Medellin, Colombia…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
It only took skipping a meal for thousands of Seventh-day Adventists to feed 65,000 of the poorest people in Colombia earlier this month.
Sound complicated? It was quite a simple idea, organizers say. It was as simple as getting church members to donate their dinner for one day to feed the less fortunate.
The idea was born from a need to create awareness and com passion in the minds of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Coordinators in Colombia, and grew larger to mobilize thousands of church members and volunteers to make it all happen.
Gabriel Villarreal, ADRA Colombia director, who coordinated the event, says he got the idea for this project after reading a national study which reported that almost half of the population of Colombia is poor. He says the project went hand in hand with World Hunger Day which was Oct. 16.
“The plan had as its main objective to alleviate the hunger needs for at least one meal of those affected by violence, victims of natural disasters, single mothers, school age children, homeless people and the marginal areas throughout cities in Colombia,” says Villarreal.
ADRA immediately involved the closest partner the Seventh-day Adventist Church with all of its organized volunteers to promote its plan to church members.
Villarreal says ADRA Inter-America donated funds for specially printed boxes for this project and Icolpan one of the branches of Inter-America’s Health Food Company, lent their facilities to volunteers to assemble the boxed lunches.
Villarreal says that it took more than four months to plan and promote the project throughout the 1,000 Adventist churches in Colombia.
“Every single Adventist Church in each city, district, community and neighborhood throughout our country got involved,” says Villarreal, “It was a project that we presented to the churches to develop, and in turn church leaders enlisted volunteers and motivated church members to donate a meal to someone less fortunate.”
“Every single Adventist Church in each city, district, community and neighborhood throughout our country got involved,” says Villarreal, “It was a project that we presented to the churches to develop, and in turn church leaders enlisted volunteers and motivated church members to donate a meal to someone less fortunate.” “One of the objectives that we wanted to do with this activity, was to go to the contacts with the government and invite them to participate in the project, ” says Villarreal.
Every church leader involved went before the mayor’s office and/or organized community leaders to share the intended project and to enlist their assistance on providing the names of families and individuals in greater need in the community. It was a well received project by community leaders. Most donated funds for additional meals and got closely involved in logistics in of the delivery of boxed dinners, according to Villarreal.
“We literally visited every home in every community where there was an Adventist presence, seeing the existing needs of every home and handing out meal tickets announcing the distribution of meals for the next Sabbath at 3 p.m.,” says Villarreal.
Villarreal says that ADRA Colombia was very particular about making sure with community leaders provided meal tickets to the families and individuals with the greatest needs throughout the country.
Some like the mayor’s office in Chaparral, donated funds for 400 boxed meals as well as some private companies donated funds for 1,000 meals at a cost of US$ 1.20 each.
Villarreal says that many community leaders shared how this kind of compassionate project had never been done in Colombia before. The event was covered by television, radio and the newspaper media, which brought awareness to ADRA’s involvement and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Once meals tickets were distributed, ADRA volunteers, the Dorca’s society, Adventist Youth and church members all throughout Colombia were organized to prepare and assemble boxed meals which included a sandwich, fruit, cookies and juice.
Villarreal says originally he had hoped to feed 50,000 people, but because local church promotions of the event went better than expected, the number turned out to be 65,000.
“The permanent objective we obtained from this project was that we motivated the people to be kind and compassionate to their fellow men,” says Villarreal. “We are sure that … in the future more acts of kindness and compassion will be done,” says Villarreal.
The simple idea of donating just a meal has created a wide awareness and excitement throughout the Seventh-day Adventist Churches there.
“It has ignited the Dorcas Society volunteers and young people throughout our churches to do something like this every month, as a local initiative,” says Villarreal. “This is the result we wanted to get within the church.”
Community leaders praised ADRA and the Seventh-day Adventist church for the project and pleaded for continued efforts like these in their community. However, Villarreal encouraged community leaders to use their own resources to create this type of program to help the people with the greatest need in their community.
Not only is this the first time that this program has been done in a large scale in Colombia, but in Inter-America as well, says Wally Amundson, ADRA director for Inter-America.
“I think that’s a real gift to the community when you can show them that with just a few resources that they have with their own hands that they can do something to make a difference with just a small amount of resources,” says Amundson. “They don’t have to wait for a grant from the United Nations in order to do something meaningful.”
Amundson praised the work of ADRA Colombia and Adventists members there for their involved in such a simple yet far reaching act of compassion.
For more information on ADRA Inter-America projects and how to donate, visit us at www.interamerica.org or call 305.403.4700.
For more information on ADRA International projects and to donate funds, go to www.adra.org
