The Los Barriles Food Bank

The Los Barriles Food Bank was the result of a conversation between two concerned Los Barriles residents who anticipated that the collapse of tourism in the region – as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – was going to have serious and far reaching consequences. Unfortunately, our predictions came true; the restaurants are empty, the boats are on dry land, the hotel workers are at home, no-one is on the beaches and LB is like a ghost town.

A small group of people quickly got together to form the Los Barriles Food Bank that included Joe from Joe’s Deli, Jeane from Bahia Real Estate and previous Rotary President, Luis the Los Barriles Delegado, Emma from Keller Williams /LB Dog Show/Cortez Rescue and Ian Gibson from Lord of the Wind.  Now the team has grown significantly thanks to a merry band of volunteers doing essential day-to-day work for which we will be forever grateful.

The premise of the Los Barriles Food Bank was simple: the good working people of Los Barriles have to eat. They live pay check to pay check and when that is gone, they have nothing. Yes we are all hurting right now across the world, but this is simply about giving people enough food to feed themselves and their families; the people that serve us with a smile or help to deliver a fun-filled vacation. And let’s be realistic…. tourists will not be coming back until this crisis is over.  In partnership with the Delegado and Los Barriles Delegacion, the Los Barriles Food Bank started to take shape against a backdrop of social distancing and rapidly rising numbers of people with the coronavirus.

Today, we are feeding up to 1,000 households across our region that includes Los Barriles, El Cardonal, Boca de Alamo, San Bartolo, Piedras Gordas, Campamento, El Coro, Buena Vista.  The authorities and the Delegacions identify the households through a census. We are also working with other groups such as the Spa BV Food Bank and Leaders2Give.