Feeding the Hungry in Uruguay

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, groups of volunteers all over Uruguay organized what they call “people’s pots,” the equivalent of soup kitchens, in order to feed hundreds of hungry people. They operate without any funding from the state, and they primarily depend on donations from kind neighbors and the work of volunteers. Any one of these groups of volunteers cooks with whatever ingredients are available to them and donates the food to anyone struggling during the pandemic. Volunteer Andrea Dorta helps because she understands what it is like to be hungry and homeless. She lost her job shortly into the pandemic and was struggling to take care of her three-year old child as a single mother, and since then she has started volunteering to provide food for the hungry. She vows to keep helping while there’s still a hungry population, which has only steadily increased during the continuing food crisis in Uruguay. These volunteers depend on caring neighbors to donate food, affectionately termed “Roberto,” and their goal is to give hungry families high-calorie meals. The rationale behind packing meals with as many calories as possible is that for many families, the meal they get at people’s pots will be the only meal they eat the whole day. They also aim to treat the people who need food with kindness and dignity, something they don’t always get, and want to continue feeding as many people as they can.

For more information, visit https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/03/americas/uruguay-pandemic-hunger-intl/index.html