Since May 2020, the Brillembourg Capriles Group has repeatedly offered the use of its van to transport food purchases from the Comedor de Bien, in addition to volunteering its time.
This soup kitchen emerged during the pandemic lockdown in 2020 and is led by the community leader with more than 30 years of service, Mariny Vazquez. The parish priest of Naguabo, Father José Colón, contacted Mariny concerned about the elderly who spent their days in the public square without eating. They started with 26 diners and by July 2023 they were serving 383 dishes of food on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in addition to Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
The focus is on low-income seniors who, although they have a home, live alone and therefore do not dare to cook. After a needs analysis, it was determined to open the dining room two days a week because the elderly eat little and therefore take food to eat the next day at home. Beyond loneliness and little desire to cook, many live on $128 a month to pay their personal expenses and electricity, housing and food. The kindness of many is what finances this meal weekly.
The Comedor de Bien opens every Tuesday and Thursday in the room attached to the Nuestra Señora del Rosario Parish in Naguabo.
