With the help of Goya, WONDER GIRLS help fight food insecurity

In support of #GivingTuesday (Nov 28), a global generosity movement that unleashes the power of generosity, 60 WONDER GIRLS from North Rockland High School and Fieldstone Middle School packed hundreds of bags of Goya products donated by Goya at the Haverstraw Center in Rockland County to distribute to families in need this holiday season.  

"I signed up for Wonder Girls to be surrounded by a community of strong-minded women who are passionate about their craft and to be in an environment that uplifts young girls while teaching them how to achieve their goals," said Gianna Joseph from North Rockland High School and President of Wonder Girls.  "Helping others is important to me because I know the everlasting effect that support can have on someone's life and their overall well-being."

Wonder Girls is an empowerment program for middle, high school and college girls that is focused on building confidence, leadership, community and business skills. Each month, the organization partners with local non-profits to raise awareness of a specific cause. November was dedicated to food insecurity and every participating Wonder Girls school packed bags of food and donated them to local churches, college food pantries, and families in need.   

"We lead by example and we want our girls to learn what it means to be socially responsible and to really care about helping others and also supporting each other," said Natalie Maniscalco, Co-Founder of Wonder Girls. "The best part of this all for us, is seeing the smiles on our girls' faces and hearing how they feel about being productive and helping their community as leaders."

The Wonder Girls know how important it is to give back to their community here in Rockland, where about 14% of people live below the poverty line. That figure is larger than the national average, according to Data USA.

"This is the time to celebrate and give thanks to our families and each other, and at Goya, we do that by lending a helping hand to those less fortunate in our communities," said Bob Unanue, President and CEO of Goya Foods. "Through our Goya Gives initiative, we donate food throughout the year when needed but every holiday season, we make sure to donate more to not only provide a warm meal but to bring comfort to families and individuals who may otherwise go without."

It looks simple enough – just a girl's organization doing some community service, but beneath the surface, there is actually way more going on here.

"Community service builds self-esteem, that's a proven fact," says Irene Robles, Co-Founder of Wonder Girls. "It helps girls to come out of their shells because they have to build camaraderie with others. They have to be able to speak to one another, work as a team, and help each other.”

Thanks to the generous donation of 10,000 pounds of food from Goya Foods, this day of giving was all made possible.  Goya has been a supporter of Wonder Girls since the start of the organization three years ago. 

"It's really amazing to work alongside Wonder Girls; to donate food and to also give young women the opportunity to help their community," Unanue said. "We're really proud of our partnership with Wonder Girls and proud of each of these young women who could be doing anything else on Tuesday, but instead they choose to be of service during a time when showing love and support is really needed."