President’s Letter

I am honored to introduce myself as the new president of Feed the Hungry San Miguel. I have lived in San Miguel since 2005 with my husband, Tony Cervantez. We fell in love with San Miguel and consider it our forever home. We are grateful to live here and be welcomed by our Mexican friends. I believe that with that privilege comes the responsibility to do all we can to support our adopted home, and especially the children, who represent the future of Mexico.

I started working with Feed the Hungry more than three years ago, first packing food, then driving food deliveries to schools every week, then as a board member. I am humbled to have

the confidence of the board and promise to do all I can to continue the success of Feed the Hungry.

I must acknowledge the incredible leadership of past-president Al Kocourek. During Al’s leadership we have grown and stabilized into a successful yet lean charitable organization feeding over 4,000 children at least one meal every school day. Our administrative and fund raising expenses represent less than 16% of our total operating expenses, which is an incredible feat amongst charities the world over.

Al’s legacy includes the addition of two new kitchens so far this year. In the community of Don Francisco is our largest school yet, where we serve approximately 400 meals to kinder and elementary students. And opening soon is a kitchen in Peńa Blanca with over 253 students from ages 6 to 12. I must also acknowledge the incredible contribution of architect Rafael Franco, who volunteered the labor and materials to build and outfit several of our school kitchens.

The need is never-ending, so we continue to expand our Early Childhood Nutrition program, as well as our Extended Alimentation program, directly targeting malnutrition. Our nutritionists go out to every community we serve to assess the children and their families, and, when necessary, provide additional food and other services. They also provide workshops to teach mothers about economical ways for them to cook nutritious food that their children will love.

Every year, we evaluate where our donors’ resources can be best applied to help the children of greater San Miguel grow and thrive. Under the excellent stewardship of Operations Director Olivia Muñíz Rodríguez and her team, we will identify additional communities to focus on in 2023. Chris Peeters, our head of finance and technology, is working hard to streamline and automate our processes as we grow, while keeping expenses as low as possible. Paola Juárez, who manages communications and produces our events, has done an incredible job promoting Feed the Hungry. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, the great team that is Feed the Hungry, including our volunteers, keeps us going.

Finally, I have the honor of working with our longtime board member and leader of our volunteers program Jonna Stratton, who is also our new board Vice President. Many thanks are owed to Jonna for organizing our recent March Magic fundraising tour, and also for donating the funds to cover the cost of the print edition of this newsletter. Without volunteers like Jonna and her crew of food packers, drivers, and event staff, we would not be able to do what we do.

While these are challenging times, we have been fortunate to have extraordinary backing from the local community and our donors that enable us to continue our mission. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting us! We look forward to continuing, together, to make a difference in our beloved San Miguel de Allende.