In the small Mexican village of San Juan Cosala, located less than an hour’s drive south of the bustling city of Guadalajara, live Mexican people who desperately need assistance to help them meet their nutritional requirements. Most likely, none of us have ever experienced their level of hunger, and this basic need must be addressed before a person can hope to achieve more.

Volunteers have been providing food for the most-disadvantaged residents of this village since 1989. The program is named Operation Feed, and it is funded and operated entirely from donations. Every peso that is donated is used to purchase food for people who find themselves in dire circumstances.

Every week, volunteers donate their time to purchase, package and distribute food parcels to over 150 families. To help maximize the number of people who receive this assistance, donations are used to make large, bulk purchases of rice, beans, lentils, eggs, chorizo, vegetable oil, pasta and tortillas. A despensa food package includes all of these items, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.

For many years Agustin Vazquez, the owner of Viva Mexico Restaurant in San Juan Cosala, has contributed a tremendous amount of his time, energy and other resources to ensure the success of the Operation Feed program. Using his restaurant contacts, Agustin is able to purchase despensa products at bulk purchase prices at the Abastos market in Guadalajara. At the same time, as a result of his familiarity with the residents of San Juan Cosala, Agustin is able to identify the families that have the greatest need for despensa packages, using the following criteria:

• Elderly people who are no longer able to work and who have no income or family to support them.

• People who are temporarily or permanently disabled or ill and who do not have a family that can help them.

• Single parents who are struggling to keep their families together.

• Children who would suffer without the assistance that is given to their families.

• Unemployed and underemployed people who, through no fault of their own, are not able to earn enough to keep themselves and their families fed.

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The people who receive assistance from Operation Feed greatly appreciate and respect the assistance and support they receive.

There are always many village residents who need food assistance. At the same time, the personal circumstances of the people who are receiving assistance sometimes changes – some people find work, some recover from their illness or injury, some children grow up and are then able to work and assist their families – and Agustin adjusts the list of despensa recipients accordingly. Our experience is that recipients often voluntarily ask to be taken off the list of recipients when their circumstances change in order to enable people who have greater need to
be accommodated. Agustin always tries to ensure that assistance is provided to those who need it
the most.

Operation Feed does not attempt to completely satisfy a family’s requirements for food, but instead tries to help people meet their family’s nutritional needs while still having sufficient resources available to address their needs for shelter, clothing and the education of their children.

Approximately $600 pesos is needed each month for each despensa package. Operation Feed is funded entirely by donations; no funds are provided by the Mexican federal, state or local governments. No donation is too small to help with this effort.