Guerrero is on the mend
Rubble cleared, bridges repaired, supply chains coming back online, and homes being rebuilt are all signs that communities throughout the state of Guerrero are on the path to recovery after Hurricane Otis. Families and local businesses are getting their feet beneath them once again, and WCK teams are listening to their requests and adapting to evolving needs. WCK has served more than 2.7 million hot, nourishing meals in the region since Otis hit. Now, in many communities, we are transitioning to food kits that families can use to cook for themselves—these kits have provided the equivalent of another 1.4 million meals.
In our previous story about Guerrero, we talked about the partnerships we’ve forged in the region, including our work providing corn flour to tortillerias so they could prepare fresh tortillas, a daily staple. We also talked about the tens of thousands of hot meals we have been serving each day to impacted communities. Here, those stories continue, and their most recent chapters signal a region that is on the mend.
Touching farewell from tortillerias
Broken supply chains meant that local tortillerias—many of them family run—were unable to receive corn flour after the hurricane. WCK used our procurement and logistical expertise to create our own micro supply chains to keep these businesses stocked for weeks on end. This bolstered the local economy while also enabling communities to take care of one another.
Since then, regular supply chains have been restored and the tortillerias have been able to resume normal operations. On the last day of our partnership with them, tortilleria owners and WCK staff gathered to celebrate the success of the program, sharing delicious cake and heartwarming thanks. In total, we distributed more than 330 tons of corn flour to these businesses, which made tens of thousands of tortillas for families during some of the darkest moments after the storm.
From meals to food kits
The municipality of Coyuca de Benítez houses a city by the same name along with other towns and villages. WCK has been delivering thousands of hot meals each day to families living there, and now our teams are hearing stories of hope and recovery happening in the area.
María is from Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas, a neighborhood outside of the city of Coyuca de Benítez. “My taquería in Coyuca is open again,” she told our teams on one of the last deliveries of hot meals to her neighborhood. “You can see that the city is clean, businesses are mostly open and people are repairing their houses. We are a strong community, nothing can stop us. We will recover soon.”
We are a strong community, nothing can stop us. We will recover soon.
María
Community member and business owner
In recent days, we phased out hot meal deliveries to a few communities in Coyuca de Benítez after families indicated this support was no longer needed. However, it is still difficult to get many food items in stores and markets, and even more so specialty items commonly used at the holidays. So, as WCK slowly tapers off hot meals, our teams are continuing to provide boxes of “despensas” to the communities. These food kits include staples like rice and black beans, along with pasta, crackers, chili sauce, and various proteins. This ensures families have access to ingredients to cook for themselves and to make favorite holiday meals.
Building trust, building bonds
Emiliana is another member of the Colonia Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood. Like many of the people living there, she has been bringing her own reusable plate to receive hot meals from our teams—cutting down on waste during our service. Emiliana gave a simple, sweet word of thanks to our teams on the last day of hot meals: “Thanks to WCK for this great treatment and support to our community. When we thought no one would come to help us, you guys arrived.”
Left: The WCK team in Coyuca. Right: Emiliana accepting a WCK meal.
There is now a sense of communal joy and hope in the air as recovery continues and the holidays approach. Moments like this are enormously gratifying, knowing that people have gotten through the worst of the aftermath and are reclaiming their livelihoods and peace of mind. Local volunteers and WCK staff have formed close bonds with these communities and one another, working side by side to provide food and hope to thousands of people.
As the holidays near, WCK teams are ensuring we have everything we need to give families a festive and plentiful holiday season before bidding our farewells. Stay tuned to hear more about that in the coming days!
Learn more about our Hurricane Otis response here. For real-time updates, follow WCK on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
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