Community Meals
Transforming a child’s future starts with food
Without daily nutritious meals, children could suffer from chronic malnutrition, which has major consequences for their growth and cognitive development. Guatemala has the fourth-highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world, with nearly half of the country’s children impacted by the disorder.
We’re working to tackle this challenge by providing meals to hundreds of children every day in our Feeding Centers.
Guatemala City Feeding Centers
We provide meals and spiritual mentorship every day to more than 500 children in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump who live in extreme poverty, in partnership with Casa del Pan, a local Christian organization led by Pastora Mercedes.
In 2021, we served an average of 530 children every day. When including their families, we estimate that we reached 750 people. The meals included chicken, pork, beef, white rice, black beans, and much more.
Meet the Families We Support
Andrea Patricia
Andrea, her husband, and their three daughters have lived in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump for 10 years. Her husband works from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the garbage dump, while she is unable to work due to an injury. Living on one income, Andrea and her husband cook breakfast and dinner for their children, and Transforming Futures’ Feeding Center has provided lunch every day for the past seven years. Without the Feeding Center, “my daughters wouldn’t have lunch,” Andrea says. “Thanks to the Feding Center, my daughters have been able to eat every day, and it has allowed them to focus on school.”
Blanca Lopez
Blanca is a single mother who takes care of her four children, two grandchildren, and three other children. She has worked in the garbage dump ever since she was seven years old, collecting food and recyclable materials. Selling the materials, she makes about $20 every fifteen days. “[The Feeding Center] has been so much help because our incomes vary a lot from one day to another,” she says. “It has been a blessing for our children. I have had so many difficulties that I don’t know what I would do if the Feeding Center wasn’t there making sure my family eats every day.”
Pastora Mercedes’ Mission
Pastora Mercedes has been feeding the children of the Guatemala City Garbage Dump for more than decade. She is no stranger to what happens day after day in the dump. Born in the community, she started helping her mother collect recyclables at an early age. By the time she was five years old, she had to take care of her four siblings when her mother worked. They often struggled to find food.
As an adult, she decided she needed to feed the children in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump who waited at home for their parents to bring something to eat. Using her own kitchen, she started feeding local children. So many children showed up that she quickly realized that she needed more space.
At the same time, she was spreading God’s word as a preacher at a local church. It was in this church that the doors were opened to start the Casa del Pan Feeding Center. At the beginning, she was feeding more than 100 children. Now, with Transforming Futures’ partnership, she and her volunteers give meals to more than 500 children at two Feeding Centers. She dreams of one day being able to feed every single child in the garbage dump.
To Transforming Futures’ supporters, Pastora Mercedes says, “You are not only in my heart, but you are also in God’s heart. I might not know all our supporters’ names, but God knows each of you by name. I see the impact of your support on hundreds of children’s lives every day.”
