Updates

At the end of August, we shared with our Mission Santa Maria donor community that the Mission Home was in need of food to feed the 100+ children and staff. The Mission Home receives a large part of their funding from the government of Ecuador, since it is part of their foster care system. But from January – August (8 months), the government did not send money to the Mission Home or any of the government-funded children’s homes in the country. No one knows why this is.

If you have been part of our Mission Santa Maria community, you will remember that we created an Emergency Food Fund for the Mission Home several years ago to help with these funding delays. But this fund was created to cover only two months of food. The sisters at the mission slimmed down their menus and exhausted pantry stores. And we enlisted the help of volunteers and local organizations to donate food items when possible, hoping the government would soon start paying. But with continued delays, we started a campaign to raise $60,000 to respond to the urgent need and cover food expenses through the end of the year at the Mission Home.

Immediately, you faithfully responded, and last month, we met our $60,000 goal. We just sent money for the third shipment of food! This was really an incredible moment of generosity from you, our donors. Two weeks ago, the home received their owed payment from the government for January, February and March of 2024 and were able to begin paying down their credit at the market. The home does not know when they will receive further payment. So your generosity is what is paying for food for the children at this time. The women at the home thank us almost daily, so we send their gratitude to you!