The Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation of Kittery has awarded a two-year grant totaling $40,000 to Maine nonprofit Safe Passage/Camino Seguro. In the first year, funds are helping relocate and build a new warehouse, or “bodega,” where donated goods, including food and kitchen supplies, classroom supplies and other equipment, are stored. It is a structure that is vital to the daily operations of Safe Passage, which currently serves 600 students that live in the garbage dump community of Guatemala City. The new location of the bodega will also buffer noise and dust coming in from the garbage dump. “Though rarely recognized as such, effective and efficient logistics, good material management and centralized organization are as central to a school’s success as good teachers and an excellent curriculum. This new storage facility will be a major step forward in expanding our reach, maximizing our limited resources  and improving lives.” –Executive Director Trae Holland

The second year award will support the purchase of a new minibus used to transport students, teachers, visitors, and volunteers between the campuses in Zones 3 and 7 of Guatemala City, the most dangerous zones in the city, avoided by most due to the high risk it poses to personal safety. Reliable vehicles ensure safety for all and allow students to participate in off-campus field trips. Safe Passage also uses the vehicles to deliver goods and disbursements to families, carry out family home visits by the social work team, and to pick up donations of food, equipment, supplies, and materials for the school.

About Safe Passage

Safe Passage was founded in 1999 by Maine native, Hanley Denning, who grew up in Yarmouth and attended Greely High School and Bowdoin College. What started as a small drop-in center, eventually turned into a fully accredited school pre-K through 9th grade as well as a high school reinforcement program, all of which provide wrap-around services including nutritious meals, healthcare, psychosocial support, college preparation, and job training—among other services—bringing hope, education, and opportunity to children that live in the dump community of Guatemala City.  

The Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation (eskebarrettfoundation.org) supports organizations that are working to improve children’s health, safety, and education to create opportunities for their enrichment so that they may live fulfilling lives.