Nutrition Program
In February 2023 the Merida Foundation hired Seidy Gutiérrez, a
professional nutritionist, as our second full-time employee. In addition to helping Sandro Castro purchase and deliver food to our nutrition sites, Seidy is developing several presentations on nutrition to be given to the students, teachers, and parents in every village where the foundation has a presence. We are very excited about this new program which is designed to give the participants the information they need to make good eating choices.
Some of the topics covered are:
* Healthy Eating
* The Importance of Breakfast
* Food Traffic Light: foods highly recommended foods, not-so
recommended,
and not recommended at all
* Benefits of Different Food Groups and the Importance of Avoiding
Ultra-processed Foods
We recently added new schools to our program giving us a total of 12
nutrition sites so Sandro and Seidy will have plenty to do to keep them
busy.
Eye Glasses
The Merida Foundation collects glasses from friends, churches, and Lions Clubs in Missouri. Two to three times a year the Foundation visits the Merida area carrying several suitcases full of glasses. Currently, the Foundation provides about 3,000 pairs of glasses each year.
If you would like to coordinate an eyeglass drive or have some you would like to get rid of, please contact us! We are always looking for more eyeglasses to give out.
The Merida Foundation was originally founded with Dorothy Lemke’s dream of providing glasses to the poor, visually impaired people in the rural villages surrounding the city of Merida. Learn more about our founder, Dorothy Lemke here.
Our Programs Need Your Support – every contribution makes a difference.
“It is easy to tell yourself that it is too difficult to meaningfully change the world and to simply give-up. Dorthy instead resolved, after coming across people who could not see, to return with glasses that others had left behind, the to keep doing it over and over. One simple act over time has led to tens of thousands of persons being able to see and countless meals being disbursed to schoolchildren.” – Patrick Joyce, Volunteer
Stay up to date on the Merida Foundation
Download our January 2025 Merida Foundation Newsletter
This past year we developed a relationship with the Jorge Marin Foundation (Fundacion Jorge Marin) founded by the famous Mexican sculptor and painter. The foundation is also interested in the education of children. We agreed to a partnership for the school in Petectunich in which the Jorge Marin foundation would build and equip the kitchen and then our Merida Foundation would feed the kids. We are looking at further collaboration this year.
The parents of the students we feed are vitally important in our efforts. We have entered partnerships with parent groups in a few of our schools. In addition to parents volunteering to prepare and oversee the meals, we are asking them to take ownership in school projects. For example, if the school needs a video projector, we make it a joint effort, asking them to hold a fundraiser for a portion of the cost and we cover the remainder.
In reviewing 2024, we thought that you might like to hear from some of the local people involved in our work. Here are a few “testimonies” which we hope will give you a feel for the importance and the impact of our presence in the Merida area.
