Friends of El Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia

Hello!

My name is Neha Kohli, and I am a senior at Rice University. Over the past two years, I have had the great privilege of working with Fundación Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia (BAB), the first and only food bank in the country. What began as a 14-week fellowship has grown into a lifelong commitment to help serve food insecure communities .

Every single moment I shared with BAB's team was. incredibly meaningful. In the highlands of Misicuni, I spoke with a young mother, just 18 as she held her 6-month old baby and shared her aspirations to continue studying. In the under-resourced urban community of Tikallajta, I spoke with a grandmother raising dealing with mounting medical costs after her son's recent cancer diagnosis. She thanked the food bank for bringing her carrots — which she chopped up finely and fried for her grandchildren so that they believed it was meat, a luxury they could no longer afford.

The food bank mitigates food waste by rescuing surplus from factories, open-air markets, and agricultural communities to distribute to vulnerable populations, mostly mothers and children like those I was so privileged to speak with. Every moment I have spent with the food bank has taught me about what it truly means to positively impact another person's world.

I carry every story with me, holding in my mind the strength of these women and the hope I saw in their children's eyes. Food is a basic necessity, it is something that at Rice we so often take for granted. We are used to having more than enough. However, this is not the reality for millions beyond our hedges and across our borders.

I am now asking for help in coming together to support this foundation and their critical work for families in need. Recently, the food bank reached an agreement with the fruit export company Chapare Exporta to rescue their surplus production. Chapare, an agricultural region located approximately seven hours from Cochabamba, offers significant potential for large-scale fruit recovery.

Now, I want to introduce you to one of the food bank’s most important team members — “La Camioneta.” This rusty pickup truck has carried the team and thousands of pounds of rescued fruits and vegetables across winding mountain roads and rural fields to turn surplus into sustenance for families in need.

After years of service, La Camioneta is breaking down. Without it, the food bank cannot reach remote regions like Chapare, where tons of food would otherwise go to waste. Therefore, we are now seeking support to help repair this beloved truck and cover fuel costs.

(Excess plantains that would go to waste without the food bank's reallocation services)

Over the past seven years, the foundation has rescued over 2 million kilograms of excess produce, redistributing it to 32,000+ beneficiaries, preventing the emission of 5,000 metric tons of CO2 in the process.

Globally, we produce enough food to nourish every person on the planet — yet one-third of it goes to waste, whilst more than 700 million people face chronic hunger each day. Working with the food bank has shown me that this does not have to be our reality. Sustainable solutions already exist and are being led by some of the most passionate and dedicated individuals I have ever met. I hope to spend my life advancing this mission — transforming surplus into sustenance for those in need. I hope you will join me in supporting the remarkable work of Fundación Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia, an organization redefining what is possible in the fight against hunger.