Feeding His Sheep with Hope

Over the past 2 years, numerous donations have poured in, shoe drives, back packs and school supplies, replacement blood glucose monitors, eyeglasses, wheelchairs, walkers and canes, toy drives and the collection of personal hygiene items.  Over 50 boxes, containing 35,000 pounds of essentials have been sent and distributed in the hardest hit regions.  Relationships have been built with community leaders, doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, pastors, as well as other missionaries and partners.

For the 2023 school year, Kristin and Reyes distributed over 550 backpacks with school supplies, dozens of  teacher packs and classroom supplies and nearly 1000 Spanish/bilingual books (including classics; such as, Charlotte’s Web/Telarana de Carlota, Curious George/Jorge el Curioso, Are you my Mother/Eres tu mi Mama, I’ll Love you Forever/Siempre te Querre and The Cat in the Hat/El GatoEnsombrerado). Their distributions took place at over 20 schools in over 13 communities.  Their new connections have taken them to some of the most rural and remote parts of Honduras, including several indigenous communities.

In January 2022, they learned of a special project which had begun to relocate hurricane victims with the greatest need to a housing development in Las Minas, El Progreso, Honduras.  The community contained over 200 houses, but it was located in a remote area with limited access to schools or employment.  Kristin and Reyes embraced the community of Las Minas and provided backpacks for all the children in the community, shoes, clothing, linens, hats, Bibles, reading glasses, wheelchairs,  crutches, canes, personal hygiene products, reusable baby diapers and menstrual pads, as well as food.  They observed that food insecurity was of greatest importance and began raising funds to build a feeding center/classroom with a bathroom. Construction begun in February 2023 and now the feeding center serves 4 meals per week to an average of 60 children each meal.  Construction of a school is being planned as well as job training for the parents and young adults. 

After several mothers of children with complex feeding difficulties requested support with pureed foods and formulas, the If You Love Me Foundation began collecting surplus nutrition and supplies from families in the United States.  This was sent directly to the families in need and additional donations have been collected for future shipments to even more families. High quality blenders were also added to each box to assist in making foods the right consistency for the children.  We are currently collecting blenders, food processors, unexpired formulas/specialty foods, youth diapers, toys, batteries, adaptive switches and communication devices, as well as pediatric wheelchairs and walkers to help improve the quality of life for children with special needs in these communities.