melissa + honduras
An Update and a Big THANK YOU!
March 26, 2011
The post office in Talanga just received the first of the shipments of the much-needed items that you, the SSJ community, collaborated to collect. It was such a joy for us to open up the boxes and begin distributing the beautiful shoes, bookbags, clothing, vitamins, toothbrushes to the children and families of the Comedor.
One additional cost of collecting goods in the United States and sending them here to Honduras is shipping. Right now, any collaboration to cover the cost of having the items mailed would be greatly appreciated. We volunteers, not to mention the community, are so, so grateful for your generosity. Thank you for sharing your time, interest, and resources that have enabled some of our children's most urgent needs to be met.
One additional cost of collecting goods in the United States and sending them here to Honduras is shipping. Right now, any collaboration to cover the cost of having the items mailed would be greatly appreciated. We volunteers, not to mention the community, are so, so grateful for your generosity. Thank you for sharing your time, interest, and resources that have enabled some of our children's most urgent needs to be met.
Welcome Simon and Jude!
I am writing to you from Talanga, a small city in Honduras, Central America that is currently my home during a year of service with Passionist Volunteers International (PVI). Thanks for taking the time to navigate to this site - your interest and support mean a tremendous amount to the families we work with as well as to myself and fellow volunteers.
PVI is an outreach program underwritten by the Passionists, a family of Roman Catholic priests, brothers and sisters. The Passionists have a particular dedication to accompanying our crucified Christ in those who suffer today, a dedication that translates directly into our mission as volunteers. Accompaniment, a general term that Passionists explain a way of witnessing and walking with the marginalized members of our global community, becomes tangible in projects like Comedor Infantil.
Comedor is a free lunch program that serves a daily meal to 25 malnourished children. The program was initiated in 2009 after PVI volunteers got to know the groups of children who spent the day competing for food in the garbage heaps and dumpsters behind the marketplace.
Hunger is a dizzying problem in Honduras, 1 out of every 4 children suffers from chronic malnutrition according to the UN´s World Food Programme. As someone who grew up enjoying snack time and special lunch in the SS. Simon and Jude cafeteria, it´s always been hard to grapple with the scale and urgency of hunger in other parts of the world. Malnutrition affects children's ability to grow and develop, learn and fight off illness, not to mention stay alive. The scarcity of work at a national level in Honduras, combined with the absence of coordinated governmental food programs, makes the situation for many children especially precarious. Please meet some of the kids who get to eat lunch every day in our program on the Comedor Infantil tab on this website.
Although Comedor has continued to grow over the past year, especially thanks to the leadership of a group of Hondurans who now make up the Direction Committee, we still need help to keep Comedor sustainable. I´ve listed below some needs that you might consider sponsoring as a family as part of this year´s CYO service project.
Any of the following items will be collected (February 19, 2011) at CYO function and mailed to Honduras:
Children´s chewable vitamins
Children´s sneakers (new or used, all sizes, ages 1 - 11)
School backpacks
Children´s underwear (boys and girls)
Children´s toothbrushes and toothpaste
Monetary donations really go far here and are what keeps the program running:
Annual doctor check-up for 25 children and anti-parasite medication - $125 (cost per child = $5)
Additional child-size lunch table - $50
Weekly food costs for all 25 children - $40
Monthly rent for Comedor´s building - $30
If you would like to make a donation, checks can be made payable to: Passionist Volunteers International. If you wish, specify in the Memo what item you are choosing. Checks can be mailed to:
Fr. Lucian Clark, CP
Passionist Volunteers International
526 Monastery Place
Union City, NJ 07087
Or donate online by following this link:
https://www.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal953/Contribute.aspx
When making your donation, please make sure to specify Passionist Volunteers International in the drop down menu.
Thanks for you interest and support,
Love from Honduras,
Melissa
I am writing to you from Talanga, a small city in Honduras, Central America that is currently my home during a year of service with Passionist Volunteers International (PVI). Thanks for taking the time to navigate to this site - your interest and support mean a tremendous amount to the families we work with as well as to myself and fellow volunteers.
PVI is an outreach program underwritten by the Passionists, a family of Roman Catholic priests, brothers and sisters. The Passionists have a particular dedication to accompanying our crucified Christ in those who suffer today, a dedication that translates directly into our mission as volunteers. Accompaniment, a general term that Passionists explain a way of witnessing and walking with the marginalized members of our global community, becomes tangible in projects like Comedor Infantil.
Comedor is a free lunch program that serves a daily meal to 25 malnourished children. The program was initiated in 2009 after PVI volunteers got to know the groups of children who spent the day competing for food in the garbage heaps and dumpsters behind the marketplace.
Hunger is a dizzying problem in Honduras, 1 out of every 4 children suffers from chronic malnutrition according to the UN´s World Food Programme. As someone who grew up enjoying snack time and special lunch in the SS. Simon and Jude cafeteria, it´s always been hard to grapple with the scale and urgency of hunger in other parts of the world. Malnutrition affects children's ability to grow and develop, learn and fight off illness, not to mention stay alive. The scarcity of work at a national level in Honduras, combined with the absence of coordinated governmental food programs, makes the situation for many children especially precarious. Please meet some of the kids who get to eat lunch every day in our program on the Comedor Infantil tab on this website.
Although Comedor has continued to grow over the past year, especially thanks to the leadership of a group of Hondurans who now make up the Direction Committee, we still need help to keep Comedor sustainable. I´ve listed below some needs that you might consider sponsoring as a family as part of this year´s CYO service project.
Any of the following items will be collected (February 19, 2011) at CYO function and mailed to Honduras:
Children´s chewable vitamins
Children´s sneakers (new or used, all sizes, ages 1 - 11)
School backpacks
Children´s underwear (boys and girls)
Children´s toothbrushes and toothpaste
Monetary donations really go far here and are what keeps the program running:
Annual doctor check-up for 25 children and anti-parasite medication - $125 (cost per child = $5)
Additional child-size lunch table - $50
Weekly food costs for all 25 children - $40
Monthly rent for Comedor´s building - $30
If you would like to make a donation, checks can be made payable to: Passionist Volunteers International. If you wish, specify in the Memo what item you are choosing. Checks can be mailed to:
Fr. Lucian Clark, CP
Passionist Volunteers International
526 Monastery Place
Union City, NJ 07087
Or donate online by following this link:
https://www.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal953/Contribute.aspx
When making your donation, please make sure to specify Passionist Volunteers International in the drop down menu.
Thanks for you interest and support,
Love from Honduras,
Melissa
