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Feed 153 families each week at the Second Helping in San Cristóbal de las Casas

Help keep a free food pantry open for students and shift workers in San Cristóbal de las Casas.

🇲🇽 San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico1,533 views
Mariana R. Cortés
Email verified
San Cristóbal de las Casas
Since 2023, our volunteer team has run the Second Helping every Friday from the back of a school canteen. We started with 27 families, and now we feed 153 each week. Donations have dropped by about 58% this rainy season, while the line has grown every single week. We rely on volunteers - 13 of us - and keep no salaries or overhead. I buy staples at wholesale prices at the San Cristóbal de las Casas market and keep every receipt. Each $15 feeds a family of four for a week. All of the funds go to groceries, fresh produce, and cold-storage costs. Where the $900 goes: • Rice, beans, flour and oil (wholesale): $320 • Fresh vegetables and fruit: $380 • Baby formula and diapers: $90 • Refrigeration and electricity: $110 Thank you for reading my story. - Mariana
#food-pantry#hunger#volunteer-led#food

Updates from Mariana

  1. Wanted to say thank you properly. 62% funded and I made the first payment toward baby formula and diapers.

  2. Thank you all. We're at 48% now ($434). I'm honestly stunned. I made the first payment toward fresh vegetables and fruit.

  3. Good news. Because of your gifts ($228 in total) I met with the wholesaler and confirmed the amounts. Still a way to go but it feels less lonely.

Donations

RecentTop gifts
  • Anonymous 🇿🇦 · $11
  • Regina H. Navarro 🇺🇸 · $100
  • Aaron K. Warren 🇺🇸 · $100
  • Gopal F. Somayajula 🇮🇳 · $20
  • Karim Ahmed 🇮🇳 · $25
  • Ronnie F. Soriano 🇵🇭 · $20
  • Oluwaseun Kehinde Gbadamosi 🇳🇬 · $25
  • Anonymous 🇿🇦 · $25
  • Polina Iryna Sidorenko 🇷🇺 · $60

    “Best of luck. Thought of Mariana all day after reading this. - Kazan”

  • Seung-woo Jung-ho Sung 🇰🇷 · $30
  • Sheila L. Bautista 🇨🇦 · $58
  • Mega Rahayu Maulana 🇮🇩 · $10
  • Suresh M. Srinivasan 🇮🇳 · $30

    “Rooting for you. My brother told me about this one. - Patna”

  • Amelia L. King 🇬🇧 · $10
  • Dustin Turner 🇺🇸 · $6
  • Oskar Nilsson 🇸🇪 · $10

    “Wish I could do more. Only $10 but hope it helps. - Södertälje”

  • Amit Arora 🇮🇳 · $75
  • Gili Sarah Ohana 🇮🇱 · $100
  • Rahel Mulugeta 🇪🇹 · $5
  • Sophia Dietrich 🇩🇪 · $100

Reviews

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Questions & comments

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  • Amaka Ronke Shittu

    Good luck, Mariana. More neighborhoods should do this. I'll check back for the next update. Greetings from Duque de Caxias.

    • Fernando R. Lara

      Keep going, Mariana. Projects like this are what make a place worth living in. We lost years of savings to something like this so I get it

      • Carmen T. CorderoAddress verifiedPhoto verified

        Wishing you peace. I hope things turn around soon. It's not much but it's yours. Greetings from İzmir.

        • Brandon A. BurnsPhoto verified

          Sending love, Mariana. It takes guts to ask. Well done. Don't be hard on yourself for asking

          • Vikas SandhuID verified

            Sending good thoughts. Shared it with a few friends. Read this on the bus and kept thinking about it all day. Greetings from Wudil.

            • Zoya Sadia Butt

              Sending good thoughts, Mariana. Shared it with a few friends.

              • Hazel H. Mendez

                Praying for you, Mariana. Your post was clear and honest. Don't lose heart. A few weeks ago I was in a hole too and it changed faster than I expected.

                • Bryan S. Hernandez

                  Best of luck, Mariana. Hope you get there. My father had a similar thing happen so this one hit home. All the best

                  • Otávio Gabriel Guimarães

                    hope it all works out, Mariana. Your post was clear and honest. My daughter saw me on my phone and now she wants to give her pocket money. Take care.

                    • Sinan Hüseyin Özkan

                      Wishing you the best, Mariana. This could happen to any of us. We're a small family in Machakos but we're thinking of you. God bless.

                      • Wunmi Wunmi Coker

                        Hope the build day goes well, wish I lived closer. My neighbor had a similar thing happen so this one hit home.

                        • Cláudio Gustavo Ferreira

                          So sorry you're going through this, Mariana. More neighborhoods should do this.

                          $947.50 raised of $900

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