Update (7/8): $1,310 raised for the Assistance Fund to date.
Guided by our commitments outlined below, we’ve begun a few initiatives to help provide relief. Those include:
- $300 allocated to startup funds for a home garden project in which ALF provides supplies, training, and initial funding for community members to launch their own vegetable garden. $300 provides 10 Home Gardening Kits. To learn more or support continued funding for this project, click here.
- $500 allocated to give $10 grocery vouchers to 50 individuals who participate in community-wide surveys, which will help inform our future work.
- $510 allocated to products needed for women-led, single parent households in Flowers Bay in partnership with the Flowers Bay Patronato. Initially, these funds were allocated to create learning materials for school children who do not have access to online lessons. However, the partnership fell through and funds were reallocated.
- Separate from the funds raised through this campaign, ALF joined an effort led by the Grand Roatan to deliver fresh produce from the AG farm and food baskets to families across various communities. We are coordinating with the other large-scale food efforts on the island such as Roatan Because We Care and the SOL Foundation.
Roatán has been on lockdown since March 16th. Island residents are feeling the effects as they lose their primary economic driver: tourism.
In late May, the Bay Islands confirmed its first case of Covid-19. Roatán’s economy is poised to take a significant and long lasting hit as borders remain closed in the interest of public health. Even Bay Islanders with traditionally secure jobs face weeks or months without pay. Some will find it nearly impossible to feed and care for their families during this time.
Fortunately, Roatán is resilient. The people of the island are strong. Bay Islands Governor, Dino Silvestri, communicated several initiatives through a nightly livestream, including the island’s first-ever food stamp program, which is currently in its development phase. Various food drives and distributions have already fed hundreds since the lockdown began. Officials are working to create a stimulus package for tourism once the island can open for visitors once again. Leaders have emerged in this time of crisis.
ALF is guided by a vision of Honduras as a place where people create a vibrant, sustainable futures for themselves and their communities- beginning in Roatán. We know that communities need stability before they can fulfill that vision and so, in response to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’ve created a COVID-19 Assistance Fund which will be used over the next several months as needs arise and evolve across the island. Our commitment when we first started the assistance funds was to:
- address the areas observed on the ground as most needed and within our mission, partnering when possible
- share the ways funds are used, and
- stay on course with our long-term, philanthropic vision
We know that families across the globe are facing a new feeling of uncertainty. If you are able, we ask that you extend an act of generosity through ALF or other trusted organizations doing work on the island. Your help becomes a safety net for Roatán and its people.
ALF has proudly made a commitment to retain our US and Honduran staff on salary throughout this difficult time. Private funding covers the administrative budget, meaning your donation always goes directly to projects and programs on the island. Please consider contributing to the COVID-19 Assistance Fund to help the island recover from situations directly related to the Coronavirus.