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A new Roanoke nonprofit aims to curb hunger in Belize.
JoJo Friday began life amid the dramatic waterfalls and white sand beaches of Belize. Her mother still lives there and Friday has decades-old relationships tying her to this tropical land.
So, during the early days of COVID, amid the shutdowns and food supply disruptions, Friday was hearing from her Central American friends.
“They were starving,” she recalls. “They were eating rotten fruits in order to live.” She began contacting international organizations for help; she says their representatives had pulled out of the country. “There was no one there.” She began putting together care packages on her own, to send to loved ones.
But Friday knew the problem was bigger than she could manage alone. In February 2021, Friday established a new nonprofit, Seed Sow Grow.
To bring Seed Sow Grow to life, Friday reached out to potential board members, wrote mission statements, searched for donors, while also fundraising and sending critically needed food to her homeland.
In her research, she came across a worldwide group, Seed Programs International, that partners with smaller nonprofits to provide seeds and expertise to impoverished communities around the world. Seed Sow Grow became a partner organization, and in October Seed Programs International will send seeds and training to Belize, Friday says.
“It’s the whole cycle of not only receiving immediate needs, but also learning how to become self-sufficient,” Friday says.
Already, Seed Sow Grow has held several fundraisers and provided food to 46 families in Belize. Friday says the way it has worked so far has been: Seed Sow Grow sends money to volunteers in Belize, who walk to food stores and bring home supplies. They then bundle chicken, flour and other essentials, and deliver the boxes to those in need.
Friday feels passionate about Seed Sow Grow not only because of her connection to Belize. She also knows what it means to be hungry — and to be unsure of how to feed your children. Friday’s three girls are 9, 7 and 6 years old; she is married and living in Cave Spring. She works as director of development and fundraising for Child Health Investment Partnership of Roanoke Valley (CHIP) and serves as president of Sisters of Change, a community organization that connects women worldwide. But years ago, Friday was a single mother who could not stretch her paycheck far enough. She regularly visited Roanoke-area food banks and knows how time consuming — and soul crushing — it can be to spend so much energy worried about food.
“It was a very exhausting process,” she remembers. “It really takes away your sense of identity and independence.”
That’s why the idea of supplying seeds, plants and knowledge — giving communities the tools to feed themselves — is important to her. It’s also why she hasn’t stopped working, even though many of COVID’s disruptions have eased.
“Roanoke is a really strong, giving community so I do think it’s a good setting for this organization,” says Jon Shup, manager of the Roanoke Co+op’s downtown location, a long-time friend of Friday’s and one of Seed Sow Grow’s eight board members.
Find more information at seedsowgrow.org.
The story above is from our September/October 2021. For more stories, subscribe today or view our FREE digital edition. Thank you for supporting local journalism!
