I have never forgotten the painfulness of poverty, homelessness and violence I experienced as a child. I have also never forgotten the feeling of hope and peacefulness when “unexpected strangers” provided a helping hand that gave me the drive to carry on.

When I was 12-years-old, Fidel Castro’s rebellion attacked my hometown, La, Maya, Cuba. I witnessed its extreme violence first hand as a child. I recall the attack lasting 3 days however its devastating consequences left our town and lives shattered.  

I routinely feared my family wouldn’t survive to see the next morning but God’s love prevailed. On February 19, 1963, The U.S. government granted my family asylum. My life was saved but life turned out to be a struggle to survive. Having nothing left from our life in Cuba, our family entered a life of poverty in the slums of Baltimore. 

It was the attention of one adult who saw me for more than the angry youth I was that changed my life trajectory. While in Middle School, a coach told me, “Anger has positive and negative forces. It can be destructive or you can shepherd it and guide it into things. The coach continued to steer me onto a track that led me to not only success in sports, but in my education.

The impact of his mentorship propelled me into my adult life where I achieved a successful professional career.

Through the years, I cultivated hope to harvest love and in 2016, I founded Three Grains of Rice Missions around the parable of “The sower who seeds fall on good soil reap a bountiful harvest.” We have our own for 3 Grains of Rice Missions. 

There are 21,000 grains in a sack of rice. I’m asking you give up 3 grains of rice, consistently throughout your life. Just as the grains of rice increase exponentially overtime, sowing hope to harvest love, also increases within us a lifetime. 

I hope that you will join me in my mission to end homelessness, empower women, and assist children in distress. I survived a life filled with these same hardships and we, at 3 Grains of Rice Missions, are dedicated to helping others just as, years ago, others were dedicated to helping me.

— Ed Perez, Founder, CEO