Closer to Home: New School in Honduras Allows Children to Attend Classes in Their Own Community
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2019) Children in La Cuchilla, Honduras, have the opportunity to attend school for the first time in their own community, thanks to the generosity of the Levitetz Family Foundation.
The new Escuela Blas Guerrero was recently inaugurated with representatives of the Levitetz Family Foundation and Food For The Poor.
Before the school was built, about 90 percent of the children in La Cuchilla didn’t attend classes. The nearest school was an hour’s walk away and parents refused to allow their children to walk that distance because of exhaustion and dangers they would face along the way.
Daniella Jordan, Executive Director of the Levitetz Family Foundation, told an appreciative crowd of parents and community members that the new school will help many children, who will learn to help themselves and, in time, grow up to help others.
“This school opening has touched our hearts in so many ways and we have certainly left a piece of it behind in Honduras,” Jordan said.
“We are so happy to be a part of helping a community in such need. To think that there was no school in the area was heartbreaking. A large number of kids were not receiving an education because of how far away and dangerous the roads are,” she added.
A mother described the school as a dream come true.
“There are no words to say how thankful I am,” she said. “We want to thank God because with Him all these things were made possible.”
One of the boys said, “I am just so happy and thankful because of this miracle that God brought to us.”
During their four-day trip to Honduras, Jordan and Dyane Santos, Executive Assistant to Jeff Levitetz, also visited the Choloma Community Development Project. It is the largest under way in Honduras. They also visited a music school and an Angels Of Hope home.
Escuela Blas Guerrero is the seventh school built through Food For The Poor by the Levitetz Family Foundation, but the first in Honduras. It was named after the man who donated the land for the school, and built in honor of Alan Canfield, a lifelong friend of Jeff Levitetz who introduced Levitetz to Food For The Poor.
The Levitetz Family Foundation works with local, national and international nonprofit organizations to create possibilities and opportunities to succeed.
A successful businessman, Jeff Levitetz founded Purity Wholesale Grocers, Inc. in 1982. The once-small independent company in the Midwest is now a nationwide network of companies and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla.
The new school, which is scheduled to open when the next term begins in February, will benefit about 65 children in the first through sixth grades. The concrete structure has three classrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a hand-washing station.
Food For The Poor donated four computer systems to the school that allow sharing of one PC with up to six users. A playground was also built for the children.
Humanity and Hope United Foundation is providing electricity and kitchen equipment for the school. CEPUDO, Food For The Poor’s in-country partner in Honduras, managed the project.
Alexander Lopez-Orellano, Mayor of El Progreso, presented Jordan and Santos with a plaque honoring the Levitetz Family Foundation’s contribution to the community.
Daniel Mejia, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for Humanity and Hope United Foundation, said the new school assures that no child in La Cuchilla misses the opportunity to receive an education.
“These kids are the future of their village,” Mejia said. “Receiving an education is an essential milestone in the process of becoming hardworking men and women, who will in the future provide for themselves and their families and contribute to build the sustainable community of La Cuchilla.”
Food For The Poor President/CEO Robin Mahfood thanked the Levitetz Family Foundation for making the dream of a school possible for the parents and children of La Cuchilla.
“Education is the only thing that will help you with your dreams,” Mahfood said. “I hope that in 10 years these students will be the future doctors, teachers, nurses, lawyers and leaders of Honduras. I am thankful we are a part of this lasting legacy.”
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned or abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Michael Turnbell
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6054
[email protected]