In April, the Fidalgo Island Rotary International Committee sent $2,300 to our sister club in Copán Ruinas, Honduras, to help provide COVID-19 relief. Due to a lockdown in Honduras, most banks, restaurants and businesses have completely closed. The area imposed a strict "stay home" order, which kept citizens indoors most of the day. People have been severely affected by job loss, due the the collapse in tourism and the severe shutdown measures in place in the community, as well as loss of income and access to savings. In response to the need, the Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas took the initiative to raise fund to provide food to the most needy rural communities and urban neighborhoods of the Municipalities of Copán Ruinas and Santa Rita in the Department of Copán. The Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas developed a food bag for about $11 that feeds a family for about two weeks. 
This story has been updated from a previous version. Click to read more about the project.
The Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas established the main priorities of the project: provide essential goods to residents who could not get these due to the restrictions imposed; and do so in observance of the health regulations imposed on the area. 
The food bag, which should feed a large family for two weeks, contained items such as beans, corn, rise, butter, sugar, coffee, oatmeal, salt, spaghetti pasta and tomato past. 
In total, more than $60,000 USD was donated to Copán Ruinas club to help, with donations from clubs in North Carolina, South Carolina and Fidalgo Island, as well as local donations from Copán Ruinas. 
From April through July, the club prepared and distributed 3,050 bags to people in the area, helping more than 8,000 people total. 
 
Funds from FIR's International Committee helped purchase supplies and food for these bags. 
In response, the president of the Rotary Club of Copán Ruinas sent the below email to our International Committee: 
Dear Walt:
I am pleased to greet you. I wish you and your family are doing very good.
Through this letter, I want to express, in the name of my Rotarian colleagues and myself our most sincere gratitude for the support you recently provided. Especially because this situation has generated an economic paralysis in our communities. 
You may rest assured that these resources will be distributed as food to the most vulnerable communities of our towns. We will keep you informed of the distribution.
Once again Please receive our gratitude, in the name of the people in the communities, my colleagues, and myself. 
 
Sincerely ,
Mayra Arias de Welchez
President
Rotary Club
Copán  Ruinas, Copán