Nutre Hogar Information

Friends of Nutre Hogar is a newly founded charity that directly supports various medical care centers throughout Panama. These centers are the culmination of years of dedication and hard work of Panamanian Monseñor Rómulo Emiliani. After he experienced the extreme poverty and severe malnutrition of children throughout the country, he founded a non-governmental organization called Nutre Hogar in 1988. There are currently eight Nutre Hogar centers throughout Panama. These centers save the lives of hundreds of dying malnourished children each year by providing nutritional meals and loving medical care. In English, Nutre Hogar means nourishment home, which is an appropriate name. Please read more about this organization at: www.nutrehogar.org. We are Friends of Nutre Hogar, and the purpose of our existence is to provide support for Nutre Hogar. We work alongside the citizens of Panama to find and fund sustainable solutions that prevent malnutrition, and to help them in their battle against it. Although we work primarily work with Nutre Hogar, we are looking to extend our help further than Nutre Hogar, so that ultimately, there is less of a need for Nutre Hogar, because of improved conditions. Many of us at Friends of Nutre Hogar have been down to Panama to see the poverty and malnutrition, and have been greatly affected. As a result of our experiences with the people and the great need, we came together to start Friends of Nutre Hogar, so that we could do something more. We are affiliated with a company called Panama Service Project, which takes groups of people down to Panama each year in an effort to raise awareness and experience the Panama culture and Spanish language. Ten years ago, this group began working with Nutre Hogar in an effort to support the facilities. Friends of Nutre Hogar was founded in January of 2008 as a government-approved charitable organization, (501(c)3) that is dedicated to helping the Panamanian community. Holly Morse is the founding director of Friends of Nutre Hogar and has been contributing to the Nutre Hogar centers for nine years. First learning about the Nutre Hogar centers while leading a student group to Panama in 2000, she has been traveling to Panama every year since. She currently directs a summer home-stay, service program for students and families interested in Spanish immersion and volunteering at Nutre Hogar that serves malnourished children (panamaserviceproject.com) and devotes much of her spare time to the associated charity of Friends of Nutre Hogar. In addition, Holly teaches Spanish as a second language to both high school students at the University School of Milwaukee and adults in her community. She is married to her husband Dan and has three children, Jenny, Ty, and Katie, all three involved with both Panama Service Project and Friends of Nutre Hogar. To reach Holly directly, please email her at: holly.morse@friendsofnutrehogar.com. Angel was abandoned on the door steps of a Nutre Hogar center. He looks to his new 'family' for food, shelter, and love. Maria's parents frequently visit a Nutre Hogar center for both financial support and also education.