Adequate nutrition from birth gives children a better start to life. While we are feeding children, we believe that we are also improving conditions for generations to come. Entire families and communities benefit when children are healthy, educated, and inspired by the fact that someone cared enough to give them a hand.
Though our School Meals program in 36 communities, lunch is provided to more than 4,000 kindergarten and elementary school students every school day. In some locations, a light breakfast is also provided, as the children arrive to school too hungry to stay alert in class.
Attendance increases as much as 20% at schools where Feed the Hungry operates a school kitchen. Every hot, nutritious meal provides these boys and girls with healthy sustenance and nourishment to foster optimal academic performance, which in turn keeps them in school longer, and improves their chances at breaking free from the cycle of extreme poverty.
Though our Early Childhood Nutrition program, we are currently providing food for 171 pre-school-age children along with counseling and nutrition education for 153 mothers, in 10 locations. More locations will be added in 2022.
A new Extended Alimentation program is designed to provide food and education tailored to the circumstances of specific families that we have identified as severely malnourished. The program launched in February 2022 in four communities, and more will be added throughout the year.
Nutrition Education is key to our programs’ sustainability. Our workshops help to educate mothers on how to provide healthy meals on a limited budget to prevent the long-term health consequences of malnutrition.
“Feed the Families” COVID-19 Emergency Response
In March 2020, immediately after the Public Secretariat of Education announced the closing of public schools (and school kitchens) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Feed the Hungry launched the biggest food relief effort ever conducted in San Miguel de Allende.
We quickly retooled our operations to address the nutritional needs of not just our beneficiary children, but also their families. Food packages were designed and delivered to keep entire families fed during the emergency. Our beneficiary list expanded as other NGOs ran out of funds, and we worked together to help the most desperate.
We quickly retooled our operations to address the nutritional needs of not just our beneficiary children, but also their families. Food packages were designed and delivered to keep entire families fed during the emergency. Our beneficiary list expanded as other NGOs ran out of funds, and we worked together to help the most desperate.
In two years, our Feed the Families program provided more than150,000 bags of essential food and hygiene supplies (1,000 US tons) – the ingredients for 14 million meals – to 20,000 people, which included beneficiaries of 25 charitable local organizations and in specific colonias where we identified families in need in the urban San Miguel area. We are the only NGO in this part of Mexico capable of purchasing, packaging, and distributing food aid on this scale. Total program expenses in 2021 exceeded one million US dollars.
The food bag distribution program is gradually phasing out as schools reopen and we resume providing hot meals in our school kitchens. Until we are able to fully resume the school meals program, and the local economy improves further, we remain committed to providing bags of food to the families in the communities where we operate.
EN 
ES 