Target

The Boy Beneath the Cardboard Box

I sat down with Megan Downing, Director of Donor Engagement, with Feed the Hungry to delve deeper into the driving force behind the success of Feed the Hungry.

Megan, can you share a story of a person or group whose life was changed though Feed the Hungry?

Absolutely. The experience that stands out the most is the one from Nicaragua. I was able to meet Ricky, 13 years old, who was living and working at Feed the Hungry Nicaragua. To say Ricky had a hard life was an understatement. He grew up living in the dump of Jinotega. We visited this specific area when I went, because Feed the Hungry Nicaragua has a ministry there. It is one of the saddest places I have ever visited. There are just piles of garbage and vultures everywhere. The smell is overwhelming! The people who live at these dumps wait for the city to drop off huge piles of trash and sort through it looking for something of value…plastic or metal to sell for a few cents or maybe some food that was discarded. I was actually there when the dump trucks came into the area, and I was told to steer clear! It would be very easy, especially for a child living in this area, to get buried by garbage or injured. That is exactly what happened to Ricky when he was much younger. He was found by one of our partners at Feed the Hungry Nicaragua. He had somehow gotten injured by the dump truck and was found passed out under a cardboard box. Our partner cleaned him up, and thankfully he was okay. Ricky disappeared for several years after this event. Finally, in May 2023, Ricky returned to the same landfill. When our partner at Feed the Hungry Nicaragua saw him again, with permission from a family member, she took him out of that environment and placed him in a youth development program where the children are taught to work and are given English classes to advance their future. They also attend church to learn the Word of God. Ricky now has the opportunity to work in a clean environment, without garbage, and earn money to fulfill his personal goal of becoming a Spanish to English interpreter. This is just one small example of how Feed the Hungry has completely altered the path of a child living without hope. Today in Jinotega, housing has been built in the same landfill community to provide dignity and hope for a group of people who have always been overlooked.