Family to Family Meal Sponsorship

in partnership with Colegio San Juan Bosco de Palermo

Huila, Colombia

Feb 24, 2021

The global pandemic has presented challenges to families all over the world. For some families, especially those in a financially unstable situation, these challenges are difficult to surpass alone.

During the second week of February, 1064 Givers raised over $500 for this project through donations from the Valentine’s Day Bracelet-Gram Fundraiser. We partnered with Colegio San Juan Bosco de Palermo for whom we were able to to donate 29 bags of groceries to supply students’ families with 2 weeks worth of food. These 29 students were selected by members of their school who recognized their families’ financial need.

We would like to express our appreciation to our team member- Julio Castellanos, the school’s director-Hector Egidio Trujillo, the school’s teachers- Martha Giraldo and Cristina Fortaleche, and coordinator- Daniel Alaguna Cordoba, for helping this project come to life and hand delivering the groceries to the students and their family.

A recent World Bank policy note on Colombia showed that school closures could lead to between 53,000 and 76,000 students dropping out of school by December 2020. Overall, students with disadvantaged backgrounds are at higher risk of falling behind academically due to economic hardship, lack of access to distanced learning, and other major factors. Ensuring a student and their family has the means to eat will lower the risk of the student disengaging from their education because of their need to help support their family.

Colombia has been greatly affected by Covid-19. A massive rise in unemployment has left many families with an uncertain future, with young adults and women being the most affected. The unemployment rate in Colombia has risen to 17 percent, with cities averaging to a higher 20 percent. Around 4 million people have sadly lost their jobs in these past months. According to Justice for Colombia, Colombia has passed 1.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and roughly 32,000 deaths.

We are honored to have been able to provide some food security relief to these students and their families, thanks to your donations and the partnership with Colegio San Juan Bosco de Palermo.

A most sincere thank you to all of our donors, team members, and community members who made this possible.

We would also like to sincerely thank Carlos Perez, manager of a local Dunkin’ in the west suburbs of Chicago, for donating a $25 gift card, 3 bags of coffee, and 3 boxes of k-cups as a raffle prize for our Valentine’s Day Bracelet-Gram Fundraiser donors.