Nourish the children 2022

Our team at LuAna's Bookshelf is seeking your support to raise $8000. 

-To feed 145 students in a school in the Philippines for 27 weeks. ($3000)
-To build a kitchen in a school in Guatemala that will allow our partners at CCAMRE (Canadian Central American Relief Effort) to host an ongoing breakfast program for years to come. ($5000)

(Should you require a tax receipt, please click on the bit.ly link to donate through our partner donation site.

IMPORTANT -
COPY "for the LuAna's Bookshelf kitchen project" and PASTE into the "share a message with this charity" field when making the donation so the funds are accurately allocated:  

https://bit.ly/3FkCd6r)

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Close your eyes...

 

Imagine you are waking up and it is still dark outside. The dirty wooden plank you slept on is cold from the night air and your blanket has fallen onto the dirt floor. You pull it up anyway. You are used to the dirt. You are 7 years old and almost to the age where most kids drop out of school to work in the coffee field with their parents. They can't afford to feed the family otherwise. But today, you get up and start the long walk down the hill for breakfast. Yesterday, your best friend didn't make it to school... they tripped on the way down the mountain and got hurt.

 

This is the true story of many children in our mountainous school in Guatemala. LuAna's Bookshelf is partnering with CCAMRE (Canadian Central American Relief Effort), a charity out of Oakville, ON, to build a kitchen at the top of the mountain for a breakfast program. This will prevent the children from having to make this treacherous walk down the mountain in the dark early mornings before school.

 

CCAMRE is running a breakfast program in the lower part of the village at the base of the mountain. The children who live there eat and then go to the school close by. But the children who live and attend school in the upper part of the village, at the top of the mountain, must either go to school hungry or walk down the mountain in the dark, eat, then walk back up again. All before 8 am.

 

Our goal is to raise $5000 to build a kitchen at the top of the mountain for a second breakfast program to 1) keep the children safe from wild animals, dangerous humans, dangerous ascents and descents on the mountainside, 2) incentivize the parents to let the children stay in school (when food is offered in a school the drop out rate is decreased significantly), and 3) nourish their little bodies so that they do well in school and life.

 

Close your eyes again...

 

This time imagine you are walking to school with your friend: across the bridge, down the path, over the hill. You arrive at school with a bunch of radishes that mom grew. Your friend has wood to cook them over. When you can, you and other students bring veggies grown at home and wood to school for the teachers to prepare lunch. Sometimes the school will buy meat to go with it and everyone gets lunch. Many days your tummy hurts and you can't focus on what the teacher is saying. Your only meal sometimes is the one you get at school. But even that isn't every day. You hug your bunch of radishes and look at your friend. "I'm so happy there's going to be lunch today," you say to your friend. "Yesterday, I had a piece of dried fish for breakfast and a banana with rice for dinner." Your friend looks at you and says, "I didn't eat yesterday" ...

 

In our school in the Philippines, oftentimes it is a struggle to pay the teachers. Lunch is on the list of things to purchase but so are many other things. Currently, they try to feed the kids at least 3 times a week. The children bring veggies and wood from home and the school purchases pork, chicken, or fish, and rice to complete the meal.

 

Our team at LuAna's Bookshelf is working to put together a lunch program that will feed the children for the remainder of this school year (January 4 - June 10, 2022). We are looking to raise $3000 which will allow us to purchase pork, chicken, fish, or eggs as well as rice daily that will feed the children lunch 5 days a week. The children will continue to bring veggies and wood to accompany the protein and rice. We intend to continue the lunch program in the Philippines but first, we must focus on the remainder of this school year.

 

Thank you so much for supporting our effort to nourish the children in 2022. We cannot express what your encouragement means to us.

 

If you would like more information please do not hesitate to reach out to our founder, Heidi Jones.

 

Happy holidays from our team to your home.