Despensa Delivery Diary

Ever wonder what happens during the despensa delivery? Join us as we follow along. We are going to deliver to about 60 families in San Nicholas, a small village east of Chapala on the shore of Lake Chapala.

Your cash donations are used to purchase the pantry items from a wholesaler named Surtido in Chapala. The despensa bags have already been kindly packed by the Surtido staff.

The day starts around 9 am, when two sets of volunteers (Cindy & Richard Wolf, pictured, and Sharon & Joe Rodriguez) each with large SUV’s, meet at the Surtido warehouse in Chapala. Five Surtido staff members help us load the SUV’s to the ceiling in about 30 minutes. One vehicle even has rooftop storage which is filled completely. Thank goodness for volunteers with BIG cars!

It takes 20 minutes to drive to San Nicholas, along a newly paved road, where we pick up the Local Coordinator, Juanita Ibarra. Juanita’s volunteer role is to interview potential local families and prioritize which ones will receive despensas. She is the lady with “the list”. She accompanies the despensa delivery, so she can continually monitor each family situation. We would be lost without Juanita!

Here are some of the people Juanita introduces us to along the delivery route.

Our first stop is at a tiny two room house where Yolanda lives with 8 family members. Three of those people are physically disabled and one has lost sight due to diabetes. Medical treatment is several bus rides away, in Guadalajara. For them, the bus rides are expensive, eating into their food budget. Yolanda says the despensas are very much appreciated.

While San Nicholas boasts some lovely affluent houses, we notice that many poor residents live on the edge of town, where the roads are rough, with dry rocky fields, partially finished small brick houses and patchy yet functional yards. Life is tough here and people don’t have the time to create beautiful courtyards or even finish their houses. When we delivered to the 77 year old widower Miguel we noticed that his front steps remain unfinished. His neighbors Morelia and her daughter Solena smile as they gratefully receive their despensa.

Next we meet Rosita who, due to unemployment, has difficulty supporting her four children ranging from three to 12 years. Then it’s on to 78 year old Guadaloupe, a widow living with her son who cannot work due to his physical disability.

We begin to notice a trend in those who are receiving despensas. Many have a health problem or disability that impairs their ability to find full time employment. Take the case of Jose, who fishes when he can and lives in his house with three generations of his family. He has to go to Guadalajara three times a week for kidney dialysis. This entails first taking the local bus to Chapala, then transferring to a Guadalajara bus, then receiving the dialysis and finally returning home the same day. That doesn’t leave much time or energy for fishing, but he does what he can.

Another heartbreaking case is Maria, a widow with three children one of whom, pictured growing her hair back post-surgery, has had an operation for a cancerous brain tumor. This type of health crisis would involve many costly trips to Guadalajara for a family that cannot afford it. On the other hand, some of our recipients are simply extremely aged, living in a country with meager benefits for seniors. A case in point is 95 year old Lidia.

Our last stop, by no means the last despensa delivery of the day for the hardworking volunteers, is Heraldo’s family who struggles with devastating health challenges. His daughter has Down’s syndrome and his son requires a wheelchair and only recently obtained one. Unfortunately he cannot use the wheelchair inside the house due to the many steps so he has to crawl through his own home.

These are just a few of the neediest families that receive despensas in San Nicholas. We hope that this story illustrates why Foodbank Lakeside needs your help to distribute monthly despensas (pantry items) containing groceries such as rice, beans, oats, eggs, milk, soap and toilet paper.  Just $18.00 USD, or $23.00 CAD or $370.00 MXN pesos can help feed an average family for a month.