Meal Donations Help Students Thrive in Belize
Telma, described by those who know her well as a “very loving mother,” is 47 years old and lives with her five children in a rural village in Belize, located about eight miles from the nearest town. Telma and her husband have five children. Her husband lives in a different part of the country and sends money to support his family when he is able. In the past five years, the family has relocated twice, and may be required to relocate a third time if their current home is sold. For many years, Telma and her children survived on two meals a day, mainly consisting of tortillas and beans. As a result, they struggled with malnutrition.
A few years ago, the children began receiving nutritious Rise Against Hunger meals at school, distributed by our partner, Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus. With the help of the Rise Against Hunger meals, the family has reported being in better health and experienced hunger less frequently. Each year, Rise Against Hunger serves 400,000 children like Telma’s through school feeding programs around the world. COVID-19 has prevented at least 200,000 of those children from accessing meals in a school setting, but we continue to work with partners to reach kids at risk during the global health crisis.
Julia is a Community Health Worker in Telma’s community. She explains that she has seen the health of the children greatly improve, and rarely suffer from colds as they did in the past. Julia shares the Rise Against Hunger meals have helped many families, including Telma’s, increase the number of meals they consume each day.
Shirley is a Registered Nurse and the Ground Medical Coordinator for Kidz Konnect 4 Jesus. Shirley reports that she has personally seen Telma struggle to provide for her family in the past, and the meals have been a blessing to her.
Hunger and malnutrition are urgent concerns for 820 million people around the world, and that number threatens to drastically rise in the midst of COVID-19. With your help, we can continue to reach 2 million people we serve worldwide during this time of unimaginable crisis. To ensure that children like Telma’s continue to receive nutritious school meals, please donate now.
