Feed Hungry Families in San Ramon, Costa Rica

Imagine if each day you had to prepare meals and snacks for 18 hungry children. Quite the challenge for most of us! However. Argel, the cook extraordinaire at Hogarcito, does it each day with ease and grace!

Currently, the Hogarcito is home to 18 children. The oldest child is nine years old and the youngest child is two months old and one of three babies at the Hogarcito. Each day is a busy day for everyone around meals and food. The older children get up at 5:30 am so they can eat the breakfast that Argel has prepared for them by 6:30 am so they can get on Hogarcito’s bus to get to the local elementary school for 7 am. The children’s school day is a half day and they return after being served lunch at school. While the older children are at school, Argel and the other staff members make sure the littler children get breakfast and Argel works on dinner preparations for all the children. In the afternoon, there are snacks for everyone and dinner is at 6 pm. The older children often help the staff set the table so everyone can enjoy a meal together.

Making sure the children have nutritious food that can help keep them healthy and that they like to eat is part of Argel’s challenge. Because it’s Costa Rica, one of their favorite meals is, of course, rice and beans and on special occasions, pizza is a treat! The children actually love vegetables and all kinds of fruit; and fruit and yogurt is often their go-to snack in the afternoon. Argel often makes lemon pie or serves fresh pineapple for dessert but the children’s most favorite dessert is jello and ice cream, mixed together – who knew!!

As you can imagine, making sure 18 growing children have nutritious and healthy food that they like to eat is not only a selection and preparation challenge but a significant budgetary challenge as well. While Hogarcito receives funding from the government for their program needs, it is never enough. As Argel notes, food prices for the last several months have increased about 5 percent and their budget for fruits and vegetables alone is almost $1200 per month. So as a result, the monthly contributions that CAA makes to Hogarcito for food support are definitely needed and very much appreciated.

We thank our donors for their ongoing generosity as we work to make a positive difference in the lives of Hogarcito’s children and make Argel’s job a bit little easier as well.