Making Food Kits in Cayembe

Cayambe, a smaller city in Ecuador, is surrounded by indigenous communities spread throughout the surrounding mountains. Casa Hogar is an organization in Cayambe that houses children who have been removed from their families for varying reasons. The main goal of the organization is to work with both the children and their families to eventually reunite them. There are many community outreach programs and projects like providing  food kits with fresh produce and ingredients for families.

The first step to this process was to pick up the donation of food from a large grocery store in downtown Cayambe. When we arrived, a woman met us with 15-20 crates of food with items such as bread, herbs, vegetables, fruit, cheese, and milk.

All of the food that was donated could not be sold by the grocery store because it was nearly expired. Because most of the fruit and vegetables were on their last leg, all the food needed to be sorted to remove the clearly overripe and bad foods. It can be difficult when there are different opinions on what is usable or not, especially when we are sometimes quick to throw things out in the United States. The fruit and vegetables that were removed did not go to waste, and instead were taken to feed cows and other animals. Personally, I am always on the lookout for old bananas to bring home that are perfect for banana bread!

The remaining food was sorted into bags and packed to the brim. This task was done by all of the staff, allowing us to complete the task in less than an hour. I admire the way that everyone helps out because I think that this type of teamwork is one of the reasons the staff all get along so well. Everyone, from the program director, social workers, psychologists, pastor, summer interns, and volunteers from Goshen College, helped to sort and assemble these kits. By taking a couple hours out of the day, we were able to reduce food waste and provide groceries to families of Cayambe.