Fabiano Rocha has been out of work for a year. He was leaving the house to order food. "It came at a good time.” [Photo Credit: Heron Santana]

South America

Volunteers Feed Those in Need for Easter

Group aims to aid 3,000 families affected by the pandemic

Brazil | Heron Santana

Until the beginning of 2020, there was no shortage of work for Fabiano Rocha, a painter, who lives in Bairro do Arnaldão, Brazil. But then came the pandemic and with it the despair of hunger. Though he was accustomed to working in the community, no one had the money to call Fabiano for jobs anymore. 

"I started to leave the house no longer to work, but to go to the house of others to ask for food," he said. It was in the midst of this situation that he was visited at his home by volunteers from the Mutirão de Manhã project, who had arrived to deliver a basket of food.

The project brings together volunteers from Adventist Solidarity Action (ASA) and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) to distribute basic food baskets for 3,000 families who would have nothing to eat during the Easter season. 

In the cities of Eunápolis and Porto Seguro, volunteers mobilized churches and community members for the initiative. They visited businesspeople, municipal managers, and public leaders. They engaged in publicity in outdoor media and digital marketing. The idea was to call attention to and to awaken a feeling of solidarity in favor of people economically affected by the pandemic.

The baskets were delivered by pairs of volunteers directly to the addresses of registered families, in order to avoid crowding at a single delivery point. Volunteers were instructed to follow health and safety guidelines and to raise the families' awareness of the importance of wearing masks. Each basket contains 13 kg (28.6 lbs) of food, in addition to personal hygiene products.

On Friday morning, March 26, the volunteers were able to deliver basic food baskets to 100 families.

"It is the kickoff for reaching 3,000 families in a state of vulnerability due to the pandemic," said Pastor Murilo Andrade, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for this region of the state of Bahia.

The Easter Mutirão campaign takes place simultaneously with Holy Week evangelism, also offering therapeutic listening services, through the Ouvido Amigo project, and spiritual assistance through prayer campaigns, Bible studies, and welcoming people who are surviving this unique moment in human history.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site.

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