Donations to this campaign will be MATCHED up to $15,000 raised!!!

All donations are tax deductible in the US.

At Manos Amigues LGBTQ Soup Kitchen and Cultural Center we’re celebrating 3 years of serving 5,000 meals per month to people in need in Mexico City while providing a vibrant LGBTQ+ arts community a safe venue for weekly live music concerts, dance, vogue balls, theater, performance art, poetry, film screenings, and monthly art exhibitions in our gallery.

The challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in Mexico City are significant. Many are rejected by their families, discriminated against in the workplace, or face violence simply because of who they are. This can lead to a life of isolation, homelessness, and hunger.

1 in 3 LGBTQ+ youth in Mexico attempted suicide last year — including nearly half of transgender and non-binary youth.
Less than 22% of LGBTQ+ youth expressed having access to an affirming home.

Having access to affirmative spaces is a protective factor against depression, anxiety, and suicide for LGBTQ+ individuals. Thanks to your support, Manos Amigues is the first LGBTQ+ Community Center focused on essential services in a city with over a million LGBTQ+ residents.

Manos Amigues is run by LGBTQ+ people in order to provide a safe space for members of our community but our life-saving services are available to everyone regardless of their identity.

Every Monday to Friday our soup kitchen serves 250 meals to unhoused people, migrants, the elderly, young families and members of the LGBTQ+ community who face extreme poverty. Manos Amigues also serves as a distribution center for in-kind donations including clothing, shoes, and blankets and each year we organize a holiday toy drive for underprivileged children.

In just 3 years we have served over 150,000 meals and hosted over 150 evening-length cultural events.

Manos Amigues has provided a new grassroots model for how to provide essential services while forging deep community bonds through art and music.

Our young organization has also begun the process of cultivating relationships with institutional funders which, eventually, will provide new opportunities to expand our services. Until that day arrives, we are still largely dependent on your generosity to keep our doors open.

The goal for this campaign is to raise US$30,000, the first $15,000 of which will be MATCHED thereby doubling your donation to this important work.

Your donation will ensure that we can:

1) continue to provide the space, the equipment and a small staff of dedicated individuals who have made enormous sacrifices to their lives to provide daily meals to those most in need in our community;

2) ensure that the majority of our cultural programming remains free of charge and open to the public for a full year;

3) expand our clothing and other in-kind donation services which have already reached over 1,000 people in need;

4) expand our legal and housing services for migrant populations which we expect to explode in the coming year due to the policies of the incoming administration in the US.

The tired, the poor, the huddled masses that are yearning to breathe free are at our doorstep. Thank you for helping us to welcome them with open arms, a hot meal and a song in our hearts.

Warm Regards,

The Manos Amigues Team

All donations are tax deductible via our US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit Americas Unite (EIN 85-2941418)

Food for the Soul: LGBTQ Soup Kitchen and Cultural Center

Manos Amigues is the first LGBTQ Community Center in Mexico City, serving 5,000 meals per month to vulnerable populations at the intersection of art and activism.

Team Members