Honduran Coffee Farmer Relief - Hurricane Eta
Donation protected
1/27/2021 Donations Update:
Since Finca Terrerito put out a call for relief donations in late November of 2020, we have hit nearly 20% of our fundraising goal through the GoFundMe alone--raising $8,570 of $50,000.
At first, the proposed $50k fundraising goal was intended for immediate, more generalized relief efforts. Nevertheless, as the true long-term impact of both hurricanes became more apparent, Finca T decided to focus the distribution of relief funds on three major areas of concern: 1) individuals impacted by the storm, 2) community and infrastructure restoration, and 3) preventative measures for future storms.
We wanted to focus the first part of our relief effort on helping those who urgently needed help the most. To take a case in point, let’s highlight a few individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by the relief fundraising in a truly meaningful way.
Natanael:
Natanael lives in San Pedro Sula and works at the local airport as a shoe shiner. Over the years, as we come and go from the Honduran airport, the Finca T and Alma Coffee Familia have built a close friendship with him and his family. When Hurricane Eta initially made landfall, Natanael’s home was severely damaged n the subsequent flooding and mudslides. Stripped of his worldly possessions, Natanael and his family found asylum converting the front porch of a family friend's house into a makeshift shelter.
That was before Hurricane Iota made landfall only two weeks later.
When Hurricane #2 swept through the already ravaged region, Natanael truly lost almost everything: no shelter, no belongings, and nowhere to go. With his family, he left the region of San Pedro Sula to escape the flooding and has since taken shelter in the surrounding mountains.
Supayita:
Other individuals in the area who experienced similar devastation, such as a local nurse by the name of Supayita, were the first line of response in both storms. Supayita lost her husband not long before the destructive forces of Eta and Iota made landfall, but her dedication to her fellow Hondurans in the wake of destruction inspired us in more ways than one.
Through donations to the GoFundMe and working with organizations like Cepudo, individuals like Natanael and Supayita were able to directly receive relief funding to start the desperately needed process of recovery and rebuilding. Over 850 individuals received immediate aid through our fundraising efforts that included, on average, 5.5 lbs of rice, 6lbs of beans, 2.2 lbs of Rice & Soy, canned foods, clothing and toiletry items.
There’s still a lot of work to be done and people to help, but the impact on individual’s lives couldn’t have been accomplished without voluntary donations like yours!
When natural disasters occur in the United States, citizens can rely on federal organizations like FEMA to manage and mitigate the damage. This simply doesn’t happen in countries like Honduras.
While the destruction to the local community and infrastructure systems is beyond words, the monetary loss was, is, and will continue to be extraordinary in value. Consider, for example, a bridge in Corquin by the name of “Puente Río Aruco." This particular bridge provides the only entrance and exit to the entire community; It is used by everyone to transport anything in and out of Corquin & her surrounding communities—from food items, construction materials, money for banks and S&Ls, and, most importantly, all coffees heading to the port (including Finca Terririto & Finca La Unica).
Even though this particular bridge managed to survive the powerful forces of Eta and Iota, the road that leads to the bridge was washed away in the storm.
Following the hurricanes, Finca Terrerito dedicated the farm bulldozer, countless hours of labor, and any necessary resources to clearing debris and blockage from the damaged roadway. Without this effort, the only path in and out of road would have been completely blocked.
However, although swift action on behalf of Finca T and Corquin town officials helped mitigate the blockage to commerce around the Puente Río Aruco bridge, concern over the infrastructural integrity of another bridge, "Puente de Los Muertos" (or the "Dead Man's Bridge" in English), increased in the days and weeks of recovery efforts.
Similarly to Puente Río Aruco, the historic town bridge of "Puente de Los Muertos" provides a crucial crossroad to and from Corquin. It was originally built for horse & cattle carriages over a century ago (our best guess) with bricks made from mud and egg whites. Because it provides the only path to the town cemetery, the "Dead Man's" bridge couldn't be more appropriately titled. But, it is used as a path for funeral processions just as frequently as it is used by coffee farmers to transport goods to the local market.
Even before Iota and Eta, Puente de Los Muertos was succumbing to frequent and weighty industrial transportation methods in the 21st century and risked total collapse. Now, more than ever, locals are concerned that erosion from recent flooding could mean devastation under the right conditions.
To combat the possibility of yet another devastating infrastructure failure, Finca Terrerito took charge to assist town officials in building a completely new road and bridge that can withstand modern industrial use & any severe flooding. This effort is not only preventative in nature, it will preserve Puente de Los Muertos for many future generations to cross.
Although this project will be tedious and expensive with an estimated price tag of $72,000, it is 100% necessary in preventing a total infrastructure collapse in the event of another storm or even under continued heavy industrial use.
So, are you wondering what you could do to help us restore the beautiful Honduran community of Corquin and help us improve the lives of those who call it home? We love that!
Our biggest obstacle continues to be raising enough money to start construction of the new bridge in Corquin. Donating to the Finca Terrerito GoFundMe (below) will put cash directly into the hands of those who need it most: local relief construction workers and Finca T volunteers.
Any contribution, big or small, is appreciated beyond what could be adequately described in words alone. Our farms and their surrounding communities have already shown an admirable level of perseverance despite being although devastated by the tremendous forces of nature only months ago, but there is still a lot of work and fundraising left to go!
Donate today and help out the relief efforts of our family farms in Honduras. Without them, the delicious coffee roasted at Alma would cease to exist. ☕️
Original Post:
Hello Friends! Thank you for taking the time to visit our Go Fund Me page! We are Finca Terrerito, 5th generation coffee farmers from the Copan region of Honduras ☕️ We pride ourselves on helping roasters source DIRECT from coffee farmers and always take action with our three key pillars in mind; improving lives, sustainability in everything we do, and providing extraordinary coffee!
Today, our Honduran community needs YOUR help! Hurricane Eta swept across Honduras leaving catastrophic damage; deadly floods, mudslides, and damaged roads. As news developed of the damage, we were overwhelmed with YOUR desire to help our Honduran community. We wanted a safe place to accept donations and therefore this Go Fund Me page was born.
The Finca T team has been working tirelessly to help others, we are the only ones with a bulldozer and have been working it at full capacity to clear roads and help others escape from entrapped homes. We have set the goal of this fundraiser to $50,000 but in reality we are beyond grateful for anything that you can spare to help the cause. Your donations will go directly to helping rebuild roads, homes, and other infrastructure that were destroyed by the hurricane.
With your help, we can continue to show support to coffee farmers, especially in this desperate time of need. Whether you can donate financially, pray for Honduras, or share this post, we are eternally grateful
For video footage and some words from Al Lopez, Founder of Finca Terrerito, please check out our video above. For more about Finca T and the difference Direct Trade coffee makes visit our links below:
Finca T Website
Finca T Instagram
Finca T Facebook
With Love, The Finca T Family ♥️
Since Finca Terrerito put out a call for relief donations in late November of 2020, we have hit nearly 20% of our fundraising goal through the GoFundMe alone--raising $8,570 of $50,000.
At first, the proposed $50k fundraising goal was intended for immediate, more generalized relief efforts. Nevertheless, as the true long-term impact of both hurricanes became more apparent, Finca T decided to focus the distribution of relief funds on three major areas of concern: 1) individuals impacted by the storm, 2) community and infrastructure restoration, and 3) preventative measures for future storms.
We wanted to focus the first part of our relief effort on helping those who urgently needed help the most. To take a case in point, let’s highlight a few individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by the relief fundraising in a truly meaningful way.
Natanael:
Natanael lives in San Pedro Sula and works at the local airport as a shoe shiner. Over the years, as we come and go from the Honduran airport, the Finca T and Alma Coffee Familia have built a close friendship with him and his family. When Hurricane Eta initially made landfall, Natanael’s home was severely damaged n the subsequent flooding and mudslides. Stripped of his worldly possessions, Natanael and his family found asylum converting the front porch of a family friend's house into a makeshift shelter.
That was before Hurricane Iota made landfall only two weeks later.
When Hurricane #2 swept through the already ravaged region, Natanael truly lost almost everything: no shelter, no belongings, and nowhere to go. With his family, he left the region of San Pedro Sula to escape the flooding and has since taken shelter in the surrounding mountains.
Supayita:
Other individuals in the area who experienced similar devastation, such as a local nurse by the name of Supayita, were the first line of response in both storms. Supayita lost her husband not long before the destructive forces of Eta and Iota made landfall, but her dedication to her fellow Hondurans in the wake of destruction inspired us in more ways than one.
Through donations to the GoFundMe and working with organizations like Cepudo, individuals like Natanael and Supayita were able to directly receive relief funding to start the desperately needed process of recovery and rebuilding. Over 850 individuals received immediate aid through our fundraising efforts that included, on average, 5.5 lbs of rice, 6lbs of beans, 2.2 lbs of Rice & Soy, canned foods, clothing and toiletry items.
There’s still a lot of work to be done and people to help, but the impact on individual’s lives couldn’t have been accomplished without voluntary donations like yours!
When natural disasters occur in the United States, citizens can rely on federal organizations like FEMA to manage and mitigate the damage. This simply doesn’t happen in countries like Honduras.
While the destruction to the local community and infrastructure systems is beyond words, the monetary loss was, is, and will continue to be extraordinary in value. Consider, for example, a bridge in Corquin by the name of “Puente Río Aruco." This particular bridge provides the only entrance and exit to the entire community; It is used by everyone to transport anything in and out of Corquin & her surrounding communities—from food items, construction materials, money for banks and S&Ls, and, most importantly, all coffees heading to the port (including Finca Terririto & Finca La Unica).
Even though this particular bridge managed to survive the powerful forces of Eta and Iota, the road that leads to the bridge was washed away in the storm.
Following the hurricanes, Finca Terrerito dedicated the farm bulldozer, countless hours of labor, and any necessary resources to clearing debris and blockage from the damaged roadway. Without this effort, the only path in and out of road would have been completely blocked.
However, although swift action on behalf of Finca T and Corquin town officials helped mitigate the blockage to commerce around the Puente Río Aruco bridge, concern over the infrastructural integrity of another bridge, "Puente de Los Muertos" (or the "Dead Man's Bridge" in English), increased in the days and weeks of recovery efforts.
Similarly to Puente Río Aruco, the historic town bridge of "Puente de Los Muertos" provides a crucial crossroad to and from Corquin. It was originally built for horse & cattle carriages over a century ago (our best guess) with bricks made from mud and egg whites. Because it provides the only path to the town cemetery, the "Dead Man's" bridge couldn't be more appropriately titled. But, it is used as a path for funeral processions just as frequently as it is used by coffee farmers to transport goods to the local market.
Even before Iota and Eta, Puente de Los Muertos was succumbing to frequent and weighty industrial transportation methods in the 21st century and risked total collapse. Now, more than ever, locals are concerned that erosion from recent flooding could mean devastation under the right conditions.
To combat the possibility of yet another devastating infrastructure failure, Finca Terrerito took charge to assist town officials in building a completely new road and bridge that can withstand modern industrial use & any severe flooding. This effort is not only preventative in nature, it will preserve Puente de Los Muertos for many future generations to cross.
Although this project will be tedious and expensive with an estimated price tag of $72,000, it is 100% necessary in preventing a total infrastructure collapse in the event of another storm or even under continued heavy industrial use.
So, are you wondering what you could do to help us restore the beautiful Honduran community of Corquin and help us improve the lives of those who call it home? We love that!
Our biggest obstacle continues to be raising enough money to start construction of the new bridge in Corquin. Donating to the Finca Terrerito GoFundMe (below) will put cash directly into the hands of those who need it most: local relief construction workers and Finca T volunteers.
Any contribution, big or small, is appreciated beyond what could be adequately described in words alone. Our farms and their surrounding communities have already shown an admirable level of perseverance despite being although devastated by the tremendous forces of nature only months ago, but there is still a lot of work and fundraising left to go!
Donate today and help out the relief efforts of our family farms in Honduras. Without them, the delicious coffee roasted at Alma would cease to exist. ☕️
Original Post:
Hello Friends! Thank you for taking the time to visit our Go Fund Me page! We are Finca Terrerito, 5th generation coffee farmers from the Copan region of Honduras ☕️ We pride ourselves on helping roasters source DIRECT from coffee farmers and always take action with our three key pillars in mind; improving lives, sustainability in everything we do, and providing extraordinary coffee!
Today, our Honduran community needs YOUR help! Hurricane Eta swept across Honduras leaving catastrophic damage; deadly floods, mudslides, and damaged roads. As news developed of the damage, we were overwhelmed with YOUR desire to help our Honduran community. We wanted a safe place to accept donations and therefore this Go Fund Me page was born.
The Finca T team has been working tirelessly to help others, we are the only ones with a bulldozer and have been working it at full capacity to clear roads and help others escape from entrapped homes. We have set the goal of this fundraiser to $50,000 but in reality we are beyond grateful for anything that you can spare to help the cause. Your donations will go directly to helping rebuild roads, homes, and other infrastructure that were destroyed by the hurricane.
With your help, we can continue to show support to coffee farmers, especially in this desperate time of need. Whether you can donate financially, pray for Honduras, or share this post, we are eternally grateful
For video footage and some words from Al Lopez, Founder of Finca Terrerito, please check out our video above. For more about Finca T and the difference Direct Trade coffee makes visit our links below:
Finca T Website
Finca T Instagram
Finca T Facebook
With Love, The Finca T Family ♥️
Fundraising team (2)
Finca Terrerito
Organizer
Canton, GA
Al Lopez
Beneficiary
Alejandra Lopez
Team member