It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
Tur Mucha Mester Kome - Nou Jij!
On May 11th, 2017, the first pilot project was launched, as part of the campaign to eliminate hunger amongst schoolchildren in Curaçao.
The purpose of the campaign "Tur Mucha Mester Kome" is to ensure that there are no children who go to school hungry in the morning. The campaign's objective is that all children in Curacao get to eat three balanced meals that includes all the vitamins and minerals needed for the healthy development of the child; 365 days a year. Based on our experince thusfar and research done in the past, we believe that some 1200+ children need our help. We are well on our way to help many of them, but we will not rest until we help all of them.
To facilitate this project, the Curaçao International Financial Association (CIFA) took the initiative to provide relief as part of their social responsibility program and helped founding the foundation 'Tur Mucha Mester Kome'. This is an innovative private/public partnership that seeks funding from all available sources and applies the most professional private sector approach in applying that funding as efficiently as possible.
This means that the purchasing of ingredients, the preparation of meals and the delivery of meals is continuously optimized, in order to create as much value as possible for the donors and the children we try to help. With the exception of the cooking staff and the drivers, no one in the organization receives a salary or expense reimbursement for their work; and the foundation does not maintain office space and owns no assets. Also, the financials are audited each year, and continuous research will be done to measure the effectiveness of the program.
Where possible, TMMK tries to cooperate with the many other organizations and people that are helping school children. The Lions Club, for example, ensures that these children receive breakfast every school day; we make sure the children receive a balanced hot meal in the afternoon and fruit and a sandwich in the evening each school day, and three balanced meals every day of the weekend and every holiday. Social workers and psychologists are available to help parents, guardians and family members to remedy the situation at home.
Donations are required for this project; from the private sector, from the government and from the rest of the community. You can adopt a child, a class or even a whole school; and you can support the project with specific tailor-made services, manpower or products.
Again, TMMK is a program of INCLUSION; hungry school children are a problem that affects us all, and that we all carry some responsibility for. Please help us solve this problem, so we give everyone the chance to be all they can be!
The Foundation currently consists of the members:
How can we achieve this?
- Families can adopt a class or a school making use of the Bronze-, Silver-, Gold- or Platinum sponsorship.
- Companies can adopt schools, which come in varying sizes in different districts. The numbers of children that need help in each school varies between 5 and 30 per schools.
- Individuals can also help within their means: with an individual donation you can help by adopting a child for a day (with a donation of 5/10/15/20 ANG or more you can adopt a child for a day or even a weekend). In this manner we want to promote inclusion, to stimulate everyone to do their part and feel like they’re part of the solution.
