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History
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In 1974, Plenty International was founded to express our desire to make a difference in the world. |
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When a devastating earthquake struck Guatemala in 1976, killing 23,000 and leaving a million homeless, The Farm (an intentional community located in the United States and founder of Plenty International) and PLENTY decided to send a few people down and see if there was anything we could do to help.
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Indigenous Municipal Building, Solola, Guatemala
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PLENTY committed crews of our carpenters to assist the Mayans in their efforts to rebuild. Over the next few years Plenty volunteers built over twelve hundred houses, schools and public buildings.
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Over the course of the next four years more than 100 PLENTY volunteers served in Guatemala, working side by side with Guatemalan farmers and villagers. Recognizing the need for additional protein to fight malnutrition, PLENTY volunteers began introducing the Mayan people to soybean agriculture.
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| Soy foods processing demonstrations were part of a strategy to get more protein to the kids. Ice "Bean" was always a big hit! |
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This led to the construction of a Mayan owned and operated soy dairy that is still in business today, providing both jobs and a reliable source of inexpensive protein.
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Other projects in Guatemala included emergency radio communication systems, medical assistance, and clean drinking water pipelines to many different villages and thousands of people. |
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Plenty volunteers were forced to leave Guatemala in the fall of 1980 due to the escalating violence. |
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Plenty, South Bronx
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In 1978 Plenty volunteers entered a forgotten third world settlement, the South Bronx. |
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The PLENTY Ambulance Service provided free, emergency care and transport to residents of the South Bronx from 1978 until 1984 |
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In 1982 the PLENTY Ambulance Service received New York's Jefferson Award for "outstanding public service." The Emergency Medical Technician training program graduated 200 N.Y. State-licensed EMTs , who took over emergency care in the South Bronx as employees of the city.
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Plenty Today
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| Worldwide PLENTY extends training and information in the specialized field of soybean agriculture and nutrition. In war-ravaged Liberia PLENTY is assisting IMANI HOUSE in their efforts to combat malnutrition with soy foods. |
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PLENTY is supporting the efforts of Native Americans striving to regain a measure of cultural and economic sovereignty. At the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, we are working to help families and indigenous Oglala Sioux organizations who are reestablishing their land-based economy through agriculture and reforestation. |
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In 1986 PLENTY established a youth program in Tennessee called "Kids to the Country" in which disadvantaged inner-city youth live on the Farm for a week. The kids get to ride horses and swim, make crafts and music, and camp out under the stars. They study nature, learn about nonviolence and the importance of resolving conflicts peacefully.
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In addition to Plenty's traditional work with Soy, Plenty is working with the Toledo Eco-tourism Association in Belize, Central America, to establish a Mayan/Garafuna Eco-Tourism organization, with the establishment of guest houses and a broad area of protected rain forests. |
| As always, Plenty's strongest asset is its people to people connection, sharing information and ideas, heart and soul. Building a network of friends around the world reinforces our spiritual beliefs, that we are one planet, we are all one. |
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More to Come!
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