The Poco a Poco Children's Diner in San Pedro Itzicán - Ricon area
Poco a Poco's Children's Diner moved in 2023 from our old office in San Pedro, initially to the terrace area at Anita's home, and since 2024, to the Community Center just across the road. (Our inauguration event was held on May 6, 2024.) It was wonderful to see the new dining area, with the new chairs and tables that Empressa Oxxo donated to us. (And even better now that the whole dining area is covered and has a concrete base - thanks to Trudie, Justo, Michael and Lydia.)
Anita hoped initially that she could find organizations that would provide enough food for the children, but as more and more kids came to eat, she has found these donations somewhat irregular and not enough for all the children who are now attending. So we continually try to raise funds to cover some of the food costs and we look for regular donors to help with this.
It's really important that the food is nutritious and healthy for these children - which of course costs money.
All of 2026 we have been feeding between 170 and 180 children to eat a meal, five days a week.
In May 2026, a local kindergarten school in La Peña had to relocate because a wall in their building had collapsed, so we had 72 additional young children and their teachers coming in the mornings for the classes and a small breakfast. So more food was needed to do that.
As of August 2026, there are 44 of these kindergarten children at our community center in the mornings (some had graduated to 1st year school and others registered in other kindergartens nearer their homes). But it still means we provide breakfast to these 44 children in addition to our lunch meals.
It costs a lot of money to feed this many meals to all these children, five days a week.
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We pay for the delivery of the food we get from some Guadalajara organizations, and this becomes expensive - sometimes costing 5,000 pesos per truck.
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These are some examples of the expenses on food:
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Chicken - 2,200 a month,
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Meat - 5,810 pesos a month,
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Around 3,550 pesos a month on tortillas, and
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1,615 pesos a month for 20 liter garrafons of water, for water-based drinks for the children.
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So every month the basic cost if 13,175 pesos (around $700 US/ $985 CAN).
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If we don't get vegetables and fruit provided by other organizations, we also have to purchase those as well.
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Then gas for the truck to pick up supplies from Ajijic and Chapala, and deliver "despenses" (food packages) to the smaller villages. Gas costs around 6,500 pesos each month - sometimes more.
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As well there is the general maintenance of the truck as the rough roads are hard on tires and maintenance.
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We do get some donations of food but it all needs to be kept fresh before it's needed in the mealtime.
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We need better refrigeration for the food when its delivered. A walk-in refrigeration system would be best but would require solar electricity to run it.
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Thanks to a grant in 2025, we purchased two more modern fridges which will help until a walk-in option is possible.
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Our grateful thanks to Fundación Querer y Hacer, German Hernández, Grupo Oxxo, the Chicken Chicks & Roosters, Puritan Poultry, and many others who donate food or money for food.
Donations towards food are always appreciated so that we can continue feeding children. Given that many of these children only have one meal a day, they are always hungry.
Some of the kids kitchens that were initially set up and organized by Anita, are now run by CreSer A.C. (Grow, Create, Believe). Creser also distribute despensas (food packages) for renal patients and to the elderly. CreSer leaders teach permaculture and many other programs to educate people. We appreciate what they are doing to help the community.
An estimated 70% of children in the San Pedro Itzicán area suffer from malnutrition, which is a major risk factor for kidney disease (which is prevalent in the area).
When we started feeding the children in 2020, a team of volunteer mothers in San Pedro did the cooking, feeding more than 100 children, five days a week. When the program grew, stipends had to be paid to the cooks. It's a lot of work.
During early Covid, when things shut down completely in mid-March 2020, people were desperate for food. Poco a Poco provided despensas (basic food supplies) to over 1,900 families - each week. Thanks to the support from FoodBank Lakeside at that time, and many generous donors, the despensas (food packages) we were giving out each week. When people started to go back to work in August 2020, the focus returned to the needs of the children.
One special group donates towards buying chickens for the food. The group is called the "Chicken Chicks & Roosters". These donors generously pre-pay to pay for chickens to be purchased for the meals.
Our grateful thanks to these donors and Rita Phillips and Sandi Lindsay, who coordinate the Los Sabinos "Chicken Chicks and Roosters". But we need more funding to add more chicken to the weekly meals ... so we need more Chicken Chicks & Roosters!
Many people in these communities are facing many medical issues - especially renal failure. The most usual cause for this appears to be: 1. Genetics, 2. pesticide exposure, 3. malnutrition and 4. lack of clean drinking water.
We can't do much about genetics (these small communities have many inter-family marriages). There also appears to pesticide exposure by workers in high density berry farming. For many families, there is insufficient income to purchase protein, healthy food and drinks, so soda drinks are often substituted (which are not good for young children). The water quality in the town's water is known to have heavy metals and people do not trust what they get from hoses connected to some of the homes. Garbage pick up is very limited, so garbage collects and attracts vermin. Many homes have poor sanitation habits. Water treatment processes are not reliable so the sewage, water, garbage, etc., runs into the lake. Where people bathe.
It sounds so easy: "wash your hands, especially before handling food". But that's not much help if you can't afford soap.
There is child malnutrition. Young children, if not provided with enough protein and fresh vegetables or fruit, are very susceptible to renal failure. Dental health is also important for healthy hearts and kidneys.
Families who receive food and despensas, are encouraged to "give back" by volunteering in their community - because we do believe that "A Hand up not a hand out" is the best way to go. Families help out by clearing areas of garbage or help with other projects. It's a way for the people to find pride - so they are not just receiving a "hand out".
A report from the University of Guadalajara that came out in late 2020 estimated that 4 out over 10 children living in the San Pedro Itzicán area will have renal problems - that's 75%. This is the link to the article in Spanish. This is tragic.
The Community Center has become a safe place for the children to socialize and now a place of education too. Whether it's life skills, learning English, practicing the alphabet or numbers - or playing. It all provides more education for these children...
It is also a place where other organizations can provide services or education to the community at large - and are welcomed.
