Nutrition at the Land of Hope

Six days a week, we serve on average, 350 meals to families who work in and around the landfill. For many of them, it is the only meal they will eat that day.

To be frank: the gifts that keep this kitchen open are shrinking, and we are not the only ones feeling it. Fewer people are giving at all. When the money pulls back from places like Escuintla, the line at our kitchen gets longer.

Meanwhile, more families keep coming and food costs keep rising.

Keeping these meals going costs $6,000 per month, or $72,000 per year. That covers far more than rice and beans. We’re upgrading our menu with healthy, more filling food, always with real meat and vegetables, because a child's one meal a day should actually nourish him or her. It covers the propane and clean water that keep the kitchen running. And it pays the monthly support of five kitchen workers from this community, who now earn a living serving their neighbors instead of searching through trash. Every gift feeds a family and gives someone a way out of the dump.