We are fundraising to provide food to families devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic
How Do We Get “Back to School”?
For many years, Feed the Hungry San Miguel has provided hot meals at school kitchens, benefiting more than 4,500 disadvantaged children every school day.
But when schools closed and many families lost their source of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to find another way to aid the communities we typically support. Our goal was simple: keep people from starving. We retooled our operations and launched the Feed the Families Emergency Response program.
Since March 2020, we have provided critical nutritional support for more than 20,000 hungry residents of all ages. As of the end of August 2021, we have delivered 135,000 food bags containing ingredients to help the families prepare more than 13 million meals.
It is uncertain when schools will return to a normal schedule so that we can reopen our school kitchens. In the meantime, we are committed to continuing our Feed the Families program as long as we have the resources to do so. We know that it will take a long time for devastated families and communities to overcome their losses.
What Are Our Biggest 2021 "Back to School" Challenges?
In many respects, resuming our school meals program will be like starting over. After more than a year, there are new students and new mothers. For example, the women who prepared meals in our kitchens may no longer be available. The same goes for our corps of volunteers.
Here are some of the biggest challenges we’ll face through 2021:
- Simultaneously expanding the Early Childhood Nutrition program, continuing the Feed the Families program, and preparing to resume the school meals program.
- After full re-openings of schools in the 36 communities we serve, the school kitchens will need to be inspected, sanitized, restocked, and recertified.
- Addition of staff, interns, and volunteers to conduct health assessments of more than 4,500 school children, to reestablish baselines for nutrition reports that are critical to the success of the school meals program.
- Establishing relationships with the new San Miguel government administration that takes office in October; we hope to continue to benefit from their support.
Our personnel and budgets will be stretched as never before. Your financial and moral support will be more appreciated than ever!
If you are a Canadian tax-payers, we invite you to support our Back to School fundraiser by donating via Amistad Canada.
If you are a Mexican tax-payer, or prefer to use PayPal, please click here for more information.
Established in 1984, Feed the Hungry San Miguel, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) U.S. non-profit corporation guided by a dedicated Board of Trustees, supported by a small, professional staff and a corps of exceptional volunteers. Feed the Hungry San Miguel, Inc. raises funds and provides guidelines to its Mexican operating entity, Feed the Hungry A.C. and donataria autorizada. During the school year, more than 4,000 hot meals every day in school kitchens in 36 needy communities are provided. In response to the pandemic, Feed the Hungry retooled its operations to distribute food for entire families struggling to avoid starvation.