Years ago on a trip to the Riviera Maya, I had the honor of stopping by Huellas de Pan for a day of volunteering. This wonderful organization was located in the heart of Cancun.  Daily, they nourished school children in the mornings so that they could focus on their schoolwork, and elderly people from the community in the afternoons. They picked up food from local hotels, prepared meals in their kitchen and served them in the small center that fit approximately 50 children.  Often, there was a birthday cake, and everyone would chime in singing to celebrate that person(s).  On the weekends, they took children on field trips to different parts of the city to give them new experiences.

While the center was small, the heart was big.  Especially the heart of the President, Maria Elena.  Please see below for the story of why her and her husband created Huellas de Pan.    

My visit was a scouting trip for Give a Day Global, and to be certain this organization would be a good fit for one-day volunteers.  Soon after my visit we posted Huellas de Pan to our website and started sending volunteers to the organization. Everyone had a joyous experience, they loved spending time with Maria Elena and the children. Over the years, Give a Day Global volunteers contributed to their fundraising efforts so they could achieve a huge goal – to build a new center.  We are excited to report, they met that lofty goal.  

Over a Zoom meeting in October 2021 I was able to “tour“ the new center, which is beautiful!  Maria Elena is bursting with pride, as she very well should be. She showed me the new kitchen, where everyone takes their meals, her office (!) and there’s even a classroom where parents can take classes on nutrition and safety for their children. The center is bright, spacious and airy.  It sits right on a park so the children have a place to play outdoors in the sunshine.  The smiles I saw warmed my heart.  

I am so honored to have contributed to the growth and development of Huellas de Pan. If you are traveling to the Cancun area, would like to visit the new center and volunteer for a day, please contact their Give a Day Global site. I can guarantee you, it will be the most memorable and special part of your trip, giving back is truly the best souvenir there is.”

The Story of Huellas de Pan

Cancun is the main tourist center in Mexico and many families come to this place with the desire to have a better quality of life. However, since tourism is the main source of income, it is easily affected by various natural, political, economic, national and international contingencies, continually putting jobs and, consequently, income at risk.

Our family is no exception and we also live in these critical periods, the anguish of not being able to satisfy the most basic needs, such as feeding our children.

Jorge, my husband, and I are part of a Scout group and we also participate as catechists in our Church; It is here that every Saturday we live with boys and girls who attend catechism without having breakfast, making their hunger and poverty evident, not only occasionally but continuously.

The suffering of the most neglected population is evident and perhaps this is not so inevitable, since there is no reason not to act for the benefit of others.

The eventual crises suffered in our own flesh made us aware that other families, unlike ours, suffer hunger every day without having the opportunity to improve their quality of life and gathering strength as well as their own work experience and professional, we take the initiative to carry out actions that can provide all families in vulnerable situations, the peace of mind that at the beginning of each day they will have a place to go to receive food as well as a space where they can find understanding, acceptance and help.

So on January 12, 2009, based on a strong conviction and the desire to avoid that under any circumstances, no father or mother, go to sleep thinking what their children will eat the next day, a dining room opens that in a short time , but with great effort, it would form a committed civil association: HUELLAS DE PAN AC