Gotha teen feeding folks in Sri Lanka

Evan Fernando’s original goal was to feed 1,000 hot lunches to hungry people in his native country of Sri Lanka. In less than three months, the Gotha teen doubled that goal. Now, he has set his sights even higher, hoping to reach 10,000 people with a warm meal and a dose of hope.

Fernando is a member of the youth group at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, in Orlando. To help him in his humanitarian quest, the church’s SERVE ministry agreed to host a Sri Lankan fundraising lunch called Evan’s Fishes & Loaves.

The event, set for April 30 at the church, will introduce guests to authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. Although the deadline to buy tickets has passed, Fernando is hoping people still will want to help him reach his goal by making a donation on his GoFundMe page.

As of Monday, April 24, he had raised more than half of his $4,000 goal.

“A meal can give hope to the hopeless, happiness to those in sorrow and love to those who feel unloved,” Fernando wrote on his fundraising page.

His vow for 2023 is to reach out to the youngest residents of the country off the coast of southeast India.

“We call it the pearl of the Indian Ocean,” Fernando said.

FEEDING HIS PEOPLE

Fernando was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2007. When he was 8, his family moved to the United States, but he still has a deep love for his native country.

“Sri Lanka is so special to me because the culture is so hospitable, so loving, so accepting and so inclusive,” he said.

On his fundraising page, he explained his yearning to help.

“Fast forward to the summer of 2022 — my family and I were planning to go to Sri Lanka just for vacation, to rekindle family connections,” he wrote. “Less than a month before we were planning to go, Sri Lanka's economic crisis steepened, and the plight of Sri Lankans deepened to a point in which I could not just ‘vacation.’ I could not let it be in my heart to stand back and stand by while the common person suffers. I could not live my summer vacation in luxury.

“So, less than three weeks before I went to Sri Lanka, I created the Food Packet Initiative, an initiative with a goal to feed 1,000 hot meals to people in Sri Lanka,” Fernando wrote. “This goal seemed to be impossible, but less than three months later, I was able to double that goal and raise enough money to feed around 2,000 hot meals to people in Sri Lanka.”

Fernando has remote teams in Sri Lanka that make sure the food is given to the people who need it most.

“We would create a system where we would (have) trustworthy people to distribute the food and they would take obvious proof of feeding people,” he said. “We are very careful with our teams. We believe in transparency and authenticity and integrity as a whole.”

He receives photos of the children with their meals so he knows the food is getting to the right people.

“In urban areas, we do it more face-to-face,” Fernando said. “We asked sellers to create meals that were both nutritious and cheaper so we could feed more people.”

In GoFundMe updates, Fernando shared that children are being fed at the Uyana Methodist Church in Sri Lanka: 100 in December and 120 in March. Those numbers continue to rise.

“Why children?” he asked. “Because children did not ask for the Sri Lankan crisis: children did not cause the Sri Lankan crisis; and the children of Sri Lanka deserve better. The Save Sri Lanka: Food Packet Initiative strongly believes that children are the backbone of society and we will not allow children to be starved.”

Fernando said $1 equates to one meal.

“One of the key quotes I use in my campaign is, ‘When leaders fail to lead, it is those that follow that must lead in ways that those that led couldn’t,’” Fernando said.

BECOMING A HUMANITARIAN

Fernando is hoping for a career in politics. The Olympia High sophomore already has a list of experiences on his curriculum vitae: He is chief strategic officer of Students Act Now, a national nonprofit that helps children get involved in political issues; was chief innovations officer for Silverline Tutoring, an international nonprofit that gave educational resources to other countries; and had fellowship with Team ENOUGH, a youth-led gun violence prevention nonprofit.

He is slated to serve as Environmental Action Club president next year.

“I’m obsessed with politics,” Fernando said. “I feel like I need to give my message to my generation: ‘Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you’re incompetent. You are unique, and you can change the world in a unique way.’”