Manglaralto Giving, Inc.
BAMA - Food Bank Program
BAMA (Banco de Alimentos Manglaralto) is proud to be one of the first food banks on the coast of Ecuador! We started serving 23 families in October 2020, and in July of 2021, we have grown to 40 families.
We identify vulnerable families in our area by making home visits and documenting needs. Manglaralto Giving is EXTREMELY fortunate to have the help of the alcalde’s office which provides us with social workers to help with our visitations. The social workers live in different nearby towns, and they know the people in their community. This helps us make informed decisions on who needs urgent help. The local water company has graciously allowed us space in their building to store and distribute our food staples.
BAMA is also truly fortunate to be able to work with local groceries, which provide us great discounts on food staples. We offer over a dozen food staples and personal hygiene items for each family to choose from. After shopping for staples, each family can choose $3 of fruit and vegetables from awaiting vendor truck.
Our list of families is very fluid. There have been occasions when families have contacted us to let us know they have found work and no longer need our services. We keep a waiting list of families available for when a vacancy occurs.
BAMA has provided nutrition classes as well as breastfeeding classes for new mothers. We have also been lucky to receive help from local farming coops who have shared their fresh produce harvests with us. The BAMA Food Bank is definitely a community effort!
Josue Muñoz Rodríguez
Director
Josue is a community leader and an invaluable member of our charity. Josue works daily to help us identify vulnerable families, find the best prices for our foodbank staples and acts as a liaison between Manglaralto Giving and the community we serve.
BAMA - Our Process
Manglaralto Giving has access to a team of social workers. We train the social workers on how to make home visits and take detailed documentation. Each social worker is responsible for a general area in the Parrochia of Manglaralto.
Our director, Josue Muñoz, stays in contact with leaders of neighboring communities and as we receive word of a vulnerable family, our team of social workers makes a home visit to determine their needs. We document their living conditions in case there is a need for a cooktop, mattress, or other home items, which can be provided by our MiHogar program. We ask about the medical conditions of the family members, and if they are lacking medical treatments, we refer them to the proper social service. We also inquire about the access to education for the children.
After completing an extensive interview process, the team reconvenes and discusses the needs of each family. We may work with local health services, public schools, or other foundations to find help. We also determine if the family could use the help of our food bank, BAMA.
BAMA keeps the list up to date in order of urgency and, as openings come available, we contact the families and invite them to our food bank distribution. In the past, some of our BAMA food bank families have been able to find work. They contact us to let us know they no longer need our help. Some families move. Also, as donations increase, we are able to add more families to our roster. Currently, we can serve 40 families each month.
When families arrive on food distribution day, we ask them to sign-in so we can monitor their attendance. When a family doesn’t show up, we immediately make contact to check on them. If they no longer need to be part of the BAMA food bank, we refer to our waiting list and add another family as we can.
Thanks to the generosity of our local water company, Jaapman, we have the use of an office/storage area and distribution space on the second floor of their offices in Manglaralto for free!. Every other Friday, each family is able to “shop” our store of food staples such as beans, rice, milk, oil, tuna, pasta, sugar, salt, toilet paper, and more. They are allowed seven items in their reusable bag. We also have reserved a fruit and vegetable truck to wait outside our office during food distribution time. Each family is allowed to purchase $3 worth of fresh items from the truck as well. This allows each family to receive a variety of foods from different food groups. Occasionally, a local farming coop will donate fresh items as they are available.
Manglaralto Giving continues to make connections with local businesses for support of our programs. Recently, we signed an agreement with a grocery chain called The Piedra Group, which has committed to providing food staples at discounted prices. They have also begun donating fresh protein for each family during our distribution days as well. Since starting the BAMA food bank, we have worked with several local small grocery stores who have matched the food prices of the bigger stores in LaLibertad (the nearest large city) which helps us avoid travel costs.
We also partner with a foundation in Ecuador named Santa Maria del Fiat. They have been kind enough to share wheelchairs and mattresses for some of our families.
If someone in the area needs help, we have a Facebook presence and a Website that includes all our contact information. We also accept referrals from friends or neighbors. Luckily, we live in a rather rural area, and everyone knows everyone
Volunteer!
Manglaralto Giving is very lucky to have many devoted volunteers who help us with the BAMA food bank.These volunteers ensure that the food distribution process runs smoothly and that our elder participants receive extra attention when carrying their groceries home.
Mery Rocafuerte, Johanna Suarez, Geovanny Arteaga, and Edwin Tomala, Ann Luther, Claudette Shaw, and Mark Simms donate their valuable time to help separate rice and lentils into individual bags and help at our twice-monthly food distribution.
If you would like to join our team of volunteers, contact us!
