For the past two years, we've been showing you the unusual events organized by Harvest 4 Kids. Alex Perez gets farmers to commit huge tracts of lands, and gets sponsors to pay for corn to be planted and fertilized, and then gets urban youth involved to give them the farming experience. This year, it was rice and he went to Blue Creek to plant 20 acres. It was harvested on Wednesday and he told us that they got a bumper crop:..
Alex Perez, Founder of Harvest For Kids
"The 20 acres that was planted yesterday required $26,000 to plant every small detail on the field. Every acre that you plant out there especially with rice is $1,600. How it works? We saw a partnership between farming individuals. Yesterday we had different trucks coming in taking the grains and the combines were for free - that how they donated their time, but also Circle R is taking the grain and they are not going to charge us for cleaning it, polishing it and that same rice is going to go into the packaging of Harvest for Kids and that's the rice that will come into the stores. When people buy that rice, that same rice that we planted yesterday will be the rice that wll be sold in the stores which will bring another revenue for the kids."
Joavanni Colon, Harvest for Kids
"It was a good experience. I saw 2 combines going back and forth with the children on the combines so they can see what the experience would be when they go longer years."
Alex Perez
"These kids want to be farmers. These kids want to be driving those machines. These kids want to be pilots to the spraying the fields. The whole idea of just studying to be working in an office or doing computer science changes to put your hands into the soil and to work the soil."
Josey Gongora, Belize Camping Experience
"The kids rode on the combines and we played with the kids - it was beautiful, unforgettable experience."
Alex Perez
"Yesterday what we saw is that the owners of the rice fields were right there and they were in tears because they were like 'wow, I am so glad, I've been a farmer all my life, but now I am giving it back to the kids.' At the end, just this morning I got a call from his son and he said 'Alexander, we got a bumper crop; we got 3 tons per acre,' He said that lots of rice. That means 60 tons, 3 big semi-trucks of rice. The expense of that when we sell it on the market, hopefully we can get double to revenue that cost for the children."
Josey Gongora
"Yesterday we had, for every acre - 3 tons per acre. So that will make up 60 tons of rice that will be consumed here in the country; you, me, the children, everyone - that's amazing. The children lives are changed with this and even our lives are changed."
They hope to have another harvest, this one for corn in September.
Email
Print