“This food will get taken to people directly,” said Severtson. “This is not about building sustainable projects. This is about feeding people and keeping them alive right now in the time of COVID-19.”
Maguire Iron Packs Meals for Nicaragua
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“Coming from a third world country, I do know what it is like. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. It’s a noble thing to do. To help out. It’s for the children, for the families who are unable to get these resources.”
“We’re packing up food, nutrition, and we’re going to send it to a part of the world that is not doing very good right now because of the coronavirus and the poverty,” said the Founder of Helping Kids Round First, Craig Severtson.
“Helping Kids Round First has gone from baseball and softball equipment to farming, chickens, and healthcare,” said Severtson. “This is different. This is an emergency project. The way of life right now is just not good in Nicaragua where we work.”
“It is the poorest Latin American country and people don’t have enough to eat so this is our first emergency program,” said Severtson.
” We have the ingredients of rice, soy, vitamins, minerals, and vegetables,” said Severtson. “They are all dried. We are putting them in bulk. We buy bulk 50-pound bags. A 50-pound bag of soy. Then, with the help of Maguire Iron or people of their faith, or whoever comes in and helps us package this down into small plastic bags that hold six meals in one bag.”
“Eventually, that will be in a kitchen at some poor family’s home out in the outreach of Nicaragua and they’ll put in water and boil it,” said Severtson. “It is as basic as you can get. Then they’ll have a fully nutritional meal. Meals for six.”
“We’ve tried it and it’s delicious food and it is even more so when you are hungry,” said Severtson.
“Our Maguire Companies are committed to doing the right thing and taking care of our customers,” said Maguire Iron President, Gene Jones, Jr. “With the success that we have in our business working on water tanks, we take some of our time and resources to help those who are less fortunate.”
“In this case, providing food for the people in Nicaragua is just a great way to compliment the other projects that we’ve done down in Nicaragua like the water projects that we have supported,” said Jones, Jr.
“As a company, speaking on behalf of the Jones Family, this is wonderful work and we are so grateful to be able to share our successes with those who are less fortunate than we are,” said Jones, Jr.
HELPING KIDS ROUND FIRST
Improving lives through baseball – Every year we bring baseball equipment and provide instruction to youth in rural Nicaraguan communities. Baseball has a unique ability to both bring together different cultures and teach life lessons helping to provide a foundation on which to improve lives.
As a result, it is currently the 2nd poorest country in the Western hemisphere, trailing only Haiti (nominal per capita GDP). Nicaraguan youth face the most difficulties. With the cards stacked against them, at least one-third never reach sixth grade. While other organizations genuinely seek to improve the lives of those they help, the true social connection needed to spark long-term, systemic change is missed. How can we set the Nicaraguan youth up for success and help implement a self-sustaining way of life to end this cycle of poverty?
In Nicaragua, baseball is as nearly as powerful an institution like the church. Even in the poorest communities, one can find a baseball field. Helping Kids Round First has been bringing donated baseball equipment to Nicaragua since 2009. Through the game, the non-profit has expanded to include major projects in softball, women’s empowerment and education, sustainable agriculture, and healthcare.
Helping Kids Round First delegations travel to Nicaragua every 4-6 weeks bringing baseball and softball gear, school supplies, medical equipment, and agricultural resources to impoverished communities. Baseball has been the vehicle for creating long-term, sustainable improvements in the region.