In a remote, poor region of El Salvador, a boy named Felix is crouching low to the ground with anticipation splashed across his face as he waits for the soccer ball to come his way. His uncle rolls the ball towards him and Felix listens as the ball moves along the dirt, and then gives it a swift kick just when it gets just close enough.
“Great job Felix!” screams his uncle in Spanish. Felix leaps up, celebrating with a smile. This was no small feat for Felix. Born blind and suffering from epilepsy, his life has been a hard road.
Standing in a dimly lit shack of a home, Felix’s mother Rosa swats flies as she speaks about her family of five.
“I used to be able to make a living washing clothes for money,” says Rosa. “But now, because I must take care of Felix full-time, I can’t work. This makes it difficult for us to put food on the table.”
Rosa says her husband is also out of work, forced to look for odd jobs that are few and far between. But, she also says, her family has recently been “saved” by Convoy of Hope and its partners.
Rosa’s three children get fed five days a week at the church and take home a bag of food every week. Rosa says this has been essential to their survival.
Helping make that survival possible is Convoy of Hope partner Meals from the Heartland. Last year alone, Meals from the Heartland provided 24 pallets of food that was distributed in El Salvador to help feed children like Felix. Food provided by Meals From The Heartland also included: 77 pallets distributed in Haiti, 33 pallets distributed in Kenya, eight pallets distributed in Nicaragua, 10 pallets distributed in the Philippines, 80 pallets distributed in South Africa, and four pallets distributed in Venezuela.
“We’re extremely grateful for our partnership with Meals From The Heartland,” says Erick Meier, Procurement Director for Convoy of Hope. “They are an important partner for us as we feed as many kids like Felix as possible.”
“Our relationship with Convoy of Hope is crucial to our operation,” says Jerry Armstrong, Chairman of the board for Meals From The Heartland. “We couldn’t do what we do if Convoy of Hope wasn’t there to get these meals to the right people at the right time.”
