Long Beach nonprofit helps rural poor in Guatemala after coronavirus shutdowns

Maria Juarez cried when she heard the news.
Her family of five — in the rural, western Guatemalan village of Aldea Miramar — would receive a month’s supply of rice, beans, cornmeal, pasta, soup, cooking oil and soap from Xela AID, a nonprofit based in Long Beach, known stateside as Local Hope.
“It’s a blessing from God,” Juarez told Ilsy Lopez, one of the organization’s volunteers, over a spotty phone line in Mam, her native language. “We won&rsquo