So insignificant for us... So life-saving for them.

I find it difficult to imagine not having any food.

I don't just mean not having "what we want to eat when we want it"...
(like, "DARN !! we only have butter pecan ice cream, and I really wanted chocolate ripple)

I mean having NO FOOD at all in the house.

Nothing to give the kids for breakfast, Nothing to send with them for lunch, Nothing in the fridge, Nothing in the cupboard, No money to buy any food, and No way to get anywhere even if there was. That's what I mean by "not having food".

In 2000, I organized & participated in a prototype coast-to-coast cross-continent bicycle
Ride for Hunger through the 2 Mountain Ranges & Central Valley of Costa Rica to raise
funds for healthy meal programs programs for Hungry Kids and Their Families,
a vision that continues to be realized to the present day...




Since 2000, this same vision has been continued through a privately-funded micro-program
I have continued to operate for providing weekly food boxes to hungry families.


A GLIMPSE OF OUR WEEKLY PROGRAM

Each week, we first go to the farmer's market and buy (in volume) fruits & vegetables


Don Carlos has been helping us for many years, filling duffle bags with
lettuce (now dozens of heads/week!) cucumbers, chayote, and (when in season) sweet peppers.
He never takes half of the wholesale value of his produce... and often donates bags of extra, so folks have "plenty".


Francisco helps us by buying potatoes, carrots & onions (by the sack) at the wholesalers market
and passing them on to us at his same cost.


Gerardo supplies us with the largest quantity of produce for the boxes... pineapple, yucca, platano, sweet oranges,
malanga (a member of the "tikisque" family of root vegetables), ayote (squash), lemons, and green bananas.
He always gives us up to 50% price discounts, and frequently donates a couple of entire bags.
Gerardo always says "I want to do more", and every week he does...


Each box includes:

RICE + TOILET PAPER + JUICE MIX + SODA CRACKERS + SOAP

POTATOES + ONIONS + CARROTS + YUCCA + MALANGA + CHAYOTE + PLATANO
CUCUMBER + PINEAPPLE + SWEET ORANGES + PLATANO

LETTUCE * CABBAGE * SWEET PEPPERS * TOMATOES *
(All items subject to availability, in season * Asterisk indicates interchangeable items)

We buy basic Dry Goods in bulk...

A bag of Rice (and Beans, when possible) and/or a package of Pasta... A package of Soda Crackers, and a Fruit Drink mix

A roll of Toilet Paper and a bar of Soap (Try having your entire family live together happily for a week without those little luxuries!)

The boxes are assembled ready for delivery...

Some of the food boxes are delivered directly to the families, and others are taken to local
"drop-off" points where the needy families come by to pick them up during the course of the day.

WHO ARE THESE HUNGRY FAMILIES??

The families we support are NOT rural inhabitants living in grass huts & who urgently
require healthcare and other critical survival necessities (a different, and significant, need)
NOR are they indigents living in the streets and eating out of garbage cans
(we're also involved in programs to provide those folks with food & clothing, etc.*)

Our program sources and supports regular poor local families who simply can't make ends meet.

These families may live in simple houses made of wood or concrete, and in some cases sheet metal.
They likely have running water & electricity, but are often without one or both for unpaid utility bills.

Situations range from single parents (working/non-working) with several children, to couples with
extended families including children and parents, to senior citizens living on their own,
and even some "normal" folk just passing through a very difficult time.

Beyond obvious reasonable considerations (not giving a food box to a drug addict on the street*),
we do not judge a person or family's situation, rather see and respond to a basic need for survival,
HUNGER

What do Angels have to do with it? There is a big connection between Angels and this program... To begin with, when one regularly takes food to a hungry family, one starts to feel a special sense of purpose, something bigger than ourselves, that we are participating in an "angelic mission". On more than one occasion, people have made the comment "You people are angels", which we of course take as the statement of appreciation it is (we are NOT under the illusion we are special celestial beings, but we ARE clear that we are answering a "higher calling") However, the real Angels in this project are the many silent partners who make it possible... * Food suppliers like Carlos, Francisco, Gerardo & many others who give us their cost prices every week + donate kilos of product * My wife Maricela, who sacrifices of her time, energy, and money every week to organize the entire project start to finish, making sure dozens of hungry families get fed for the next week! * Many others who in small or big ways (every little bit counts!) have selflessly shared our vision, and made it possible to give a piece of heaven to a hungry family through a simple box of food.

On 09/09/09 (9 Sept 2009, the day of the child) we increased our weekly food box distribution to 81 (9 x 9) families, and by the end of 2011, were distributing over 90 boxes weekly

A lot of fun just for being an Angel!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, E-MAIL US HERE

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT OR OUR OTHER PROGRAMS, E-MAIL US HERE