Giving back to Guatemala

Last May, Weber State University students traveled to Guatemala to help local women start their own businesses.
“Last year in 2009, Weber State had a humanitarian fundraiser where they went out to Guatemala and they did something called micro-financing, where they give loans to underprivileged women to start up a small business,” said WSU senior Jason Herman, head of the fundraiser. “The loans are small; they’re $30 or $50, which is enough for them to buy, say, a tortilla press and some flour to start a business selling tortillas, or beads to make jewelry. So we’re giving them a permanent source of income rather than giving them a handout.”
The students are continuing their efforts to aid women of Guatemala and hope to preserve the Mayan culture by raising enough funds to start a Mayan ecological museum.
“What happens with the loans is as they pay those back,” Herman said, “that money will go into a community fund that will help other women in the community by allowing them to have their own loans and start their own businesses.”
The students continued to raise money for Guatemala on Thursday, March 4. Five local restaurants on 25th St. in Ogden participated in the fundraiser through donating a percentage of their profits or through servers donating their tips and customers giving donations.
Roosters Brewing Co. was one of the restaurants that participated in the fundraiser.
“The owners, Kym and Pete Buttschardt, they have decided to donate 5 percent of the sales tonight to the fundraisers,” said Roosters manager Malinda Kennington. “They gave the servers the option if they wanted to donate tips, and we have a bowl where customers could donate.”
The Union Grill, located at the Union Station, also donated 5 percent of their sales to the fundraiser, with the Artesian Grille, Bistro 258 and La Ferrovia participating as well.
“It was one of those things,” saidBistro 258 owner Devin Cash. “I thought it was a great idea. I thought it was a really unique way that they were able to sort of piggyback off of the restaurant and use the tips for people who need help. I thought that was really cool. A lot of times we make donations of food or gift certificates for raffles, but I was really interested in this because I could feel that it was helping out my restaurant directly as well as helping the women of Guatemala.”
Bistro 258 kept only two of their regular servers on Friday night, with five WSU students helping throughout the restaurant.
“It’s been a little bit chaotic, but it’s been OK,” Cash said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity; it seems like a really great cause.”
At Bistro 258 and La Ferrovia, the group received approximately $800 in donations, and will also add 5 percent of Friday night’s sales from Roosters and the Union Grill.