Good Food was a Sweet Dream - Literally

Natalia has done a lot of different jobs to try and help her husband, Abundio, bring in some extra money.

"She’s always helping me by selling her knitting and selling candies; she has been a great support for us,” Abundio said.

Abundio works as a bus driver’s assistant. But even with their combined income, there isn’t enough to keep the family going. So sometimes, even their children have had to help make money by picking coffee with their parents. This is Delmi, one of their daughters.

"It is very painful to work under the burning sun,” said one their daughters, Delmi. “And we get bit by bugs and ants, and have to sleep in a smokey warehouse.

And hunger is a constant companion.

"One night I had this dream that I was eating this tasty meal,” Delmi said, “but when I woke up, I realized it was only a dream, nothing else. It was painful.”

One day, Natalia and Abundio heard that Operation Blessing was providing small grants to help families to start small businesses. Immediately, they thought about expanding their candy business.

"I said to myself, if Operation Blessing gives us this money, we can grow our business,” Abundio said. “We decided to work together and add hot meals and snacks to our candy shop. When they gave us the gift, we decided to buy a stove.”

Abundio quit his low paying job as a bus driver’s assistant and stayed home to run the expanded business. That’s when things really took off.

"Sometimes we get orders for 20 to 25 lunches,” Abundio said. “Other businesses also order meals."

And it all started with one small grant from Operation Blessing.

“First, I thank God, and second I want to thank the people from Operation Blessing,” Abundio said. “Because they accepted us into this program our business is succeeding! We hope that they can help another family that needs help just like we did. Thank you once again, Operation Blessing.”

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