The mezcaleros and mezcaleras in the Oaxacan community of San Baltazar Chichicapam are beloved all over the world for making delicious agave spirits. Maybe you’ve tried Del Maguey’s Chichicapa? Or Pierde Almas' Tequilana Weber? Or any of the Berta Vasquez expressions released by Rezpiral? Or … maybe you found yourself there on a past trip to Oaxaca, visiting the palenques of Fortunato or Angelica.

Well, we agave enthusiasts are not the only ones who recognize how special the mezcaleros and mezcaleras of Chichicapam are. They are pillars of the community and have often served as a safety net of sorts for their neighbors who are less fortunate. In times of need, the people of Chichicapam turn to the mezcaleres for help. But during the prolonged pandemic, resources ran dry.

Chichicapam needed food.

SACRED donors stepped up, enabling beans, rice, lentils, shelf-stable milk, cooking oil, sugar, flour, salt, pasta, soap, a toothpaste, and toilet paper to be delivered to mezcaleres of Chichicapam and other communities. The mezcaleres, in turn, shared these goods with their neighbors.

How it worked

One hundred percent of the money that arrived in our account for this project was sent down to Oaxaca. (There are fees that PayPal takes from donations, but SACRED does not keep anything for overhead — that is paid by members of SACRED’s Board of Directors — and SACRED does not have any paid employees.) The money was sent to Randall Stockton of Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca, the man who organized this project.

Randall and his wife, Donya Stockton, used the money to purchase the items that went into the packs and they assembled the packs. Then they dropped the packs with mezcaleres. The mezcaleres signed letters of receipt for the packs, and they distributed the packs to their neighbors in need. The final recipients of the packs didn’t need to sign for them or pay for them — they had no obligations as a result of receiving a pack.

Your support enabled us to feed over 500 families. Thank you!