Ely Abundes
De 38 años emigró de Puebla hace 10 años para establecerse en Estados Unidos y poder asegurar techo, comida y educación a sus 3 niñas en México.
Vive en Queens, Nueva York y durante la pandemia su pareja enfermó gravemente del coronavirus y pasó la enfermedad en casa durante 40 días junto a ella (en depresión) y su hijo más pequeño. Cuando Ely sale a comprar comida, se encuentra largas filas de personas esperando por alimento en diferentes partes de Queens. En ese momento decidió ayudar y rescató a un joven para que no se quedara en la calle y ubicó a otras personas en casas de vecinos para que tuvieran techo y comida.
Al ver tanta necesidad se puso en acción para preparar comidas calientes 3 veces a la semana para regalar a 160 jornaleros y 50 jornaleras en Queens; con la ayuda de otros voluntarios (as). Gracias a donaciones de la misma comunidad y al banco de comida; Ely también empezó a armar y entregar despensas en otras áreas de la ciudad. Su día inicia a las 5 de la mañana. Al momento calcula haber entregado mas de mil almuerzos calientes.
Ely considera que todos los migrantes son héroes y unos guerreros porque se sacrifican para sostener a sus familias y durante la pandemia han sostenido la economía del país como trabajadores esenciales.
Ely Abundes left his hometown in the eastern-central state of Puebla, Mexico when he was 28 so that he can provide housing, food and education to his family in Mexico.Ten years later and settled in New York’s Queens neighbourhood, his companion got sick with the coronavirus and for about 40 days he stayed at home caring for her and isolating himself, along with his youngest son.
With the worst over, Ely decided to start helping others in need, a lot of them people he bumped into on the streets during his walks to buy groceries. He is now devoted to helping people that suddenly have no jobs or a place to stay, to find support with other volunteers so that they can at least get the basics to survive.A couple of weeks agio, he also began to prepare warm food three times a week and to distribute them to over 200 daily men and women that perform all sorts of daily low-paying jobs.
With donations from food banks and the community, Ely has begun to distribute food baskets in other parts of the city. He starts at 5 A.M. and finishes his journey until late in the afternoon most days.
He calculates that he has been able to deliver over 1,000 warm lunches already.He believes that all migrants are heroes and true fighters because they sacrifice themselves to be able to provide for their families, as we have all seen during these coronavirus times, supporting not only their loved ones and their communities, but millions more around the country, through their essential work.
