By: John Dewald, Greenheart Travel alum and Greenheart Impact Grant recipient.
How’s it going blog readers?
I hope all is well.
2024 is officially over, and with it, my Greenheart Global Impact Grant. The grant funded food recovery for Nova Dorotea, a favela in the greater São Paulo area in Brazil. Because of Greenheart’s support, we were able to provide 29,020 meals to families in need and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 87,066 lbs. of CO2 and 2,496 lbs. of methane (methane has 84 times more warming potential than CO2 when measured on a 20-year scale).
This is huge. Not only did we provide thousands of meals to hundreds of people, but we also zeroed out many people’s carbon footprints. As we see more and more climate catastrophes, decreasing global greenhouse gas emissions only because more and more important.
This project that Greenheart funded was not a stand-alone project. It was part of a bigger set of actions happening in Brazil and across the world that is the work of Full Belly Brasil, a 501c3 charitable organization with the mission of helping solve world hunger and combat climate change. Check them out on Instagram (at)FullBellyBrasil or at the website FullBellyBrasil.com.
Working to help provide meals to families in need in the favela is an incredible process. It’s a mix of ups and downs. It warms your heart to see the smiles of the people you’re helping, and it’s an incredible experience to get to know them and become friends. They are incredibly gracious hosts, making you feel welcome as guests in their community. Some days are hard though when the poverty and vulnerability of many people living in the community show how hard life can be.
I’m going to keep doing what I can to help solve world hunger and combat climate change by running food recovery projects in Brazil. I’ve been doing it since 2020, and I hope to still be at it in 2050.
John Dewald
President and Co-founder
Got a project in mind? Earn up to $2,000 for an opportunity to create, improve, or maintain a community-focused project abroad or at home. Follow Greenheart on Facebook and Instagram to see when the next application window opens.
Click here if you’d like to donate to help Greenheart fund the Global Impact Grant program.