For two sisters from Vienna, Safiya Farooqui, an 11-year-old middle schooler, and Suraiya Farooqui, a 17-year-old high school student, their grassroots initiative to combat a humanitarian crisis thousands of miles away begins exactly where they feel most comfortable: together.

Their food activism project, Plates Without Politics, is dedicated to raising money, building awareness and delivering critical aid to individuals and families caught in Cuba's compounding food and fuel crisis. What started as a deeply personal effort to support their extended family overseas has grown into a structured community initiative.

For Safiya, the motivation is simple. "By helping them, it just brings me happiness," she said, noting that the project has brought her closer to the people she loves.

The project grew out of necessity as living conditions in Cuba drastically deteriorated. A crippling fuel embargo and macroeconomic collapse have left even working-class citizens unable to meet basic needs. Advocacy groups like Human Rights Watch and the Washington Office on Latin America have documented how temporary economic shocks have hardened into a chronic humanitarian crisis, severely limiting access to basic nutrition and utilities.

"There’s been a multitude of issues across the island — inconsistent power because there’s no fuel, inconsistent transport that’s affected education, and it’s been really terrible for the economy," Suraiya explained.

"Even individuals who have jobs are struggling because food and basic resources are inaccessible," she added. "So, especially for elderly people, for people who are sick, and for families without connections outside the island, it’s very, very difficult to find basic groceries."

For the Farooqui sisters, the crisis is personal. Safiya still carries vivid memories of visiting the island and being a part of that community.

To ensure the project remains practical and highly responsive, the sisters designed a strict operational model that bypasses traditional, bureaucratic obstacles. They deliberately avoid sending cash or wiring money directly to Cuba. Instead, the initiative uses donations to purchase nonperishable food through a vetted platform, Supermarket23, which delivers locally on the island.

From there, a network of trusted family contacts distributes the groceries, ensuring aid goes directly to elderly and infirm people and families with children who lack outside support systems. While Suraiya handles strategic expansion and logistics, Safiya manages donation tracking and assists with community communications.

Plates Without Politics initially leveraged the sisters' immediate network. "We are blessed to have an enormous extended family," Suraiya said. But as the crisis deepened, they knew they needed to expand.

The sisters are strategically scaling their outreach, targeting regional organizations and faith-based groups — including local churches, mosques, synagogues and Latino community organizations — to build a broader coalition. They also launched an official website to give the public a direct avenue to contribute.

The initiative had raised more than $4,000, providing tangible relief on the ground where $60 is enough to feed one person for an entire month. Having already supplied food to 63 people, the sisters have set their sights on a clear milestone.

"Our goal is to feed 100," the sisters shared.

For both girls, the work is rooted in a deep moral responsibility. Suraiya frames the project as "very, very important to our hearts" and tied to "our shared sense of everyone’s sense of humanity."

To learn more and help Safiya and Suraiya feed more families, visit plateswithoutpolitics.org to connect via Venmo, PayPal or Zelle. According to their website, the founders cover all platform service fees personally so that 100% of public support funds go to grocery purchases.

https://plateswithoutpolitics.org/

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Voices from the Island

     Crisis in Cuba

• Mariam, a student from La Lisa: "...studying in Cuba is very difficult; it feels like surviving. Imagine your life with shortages of water, electricity, food and transportation."

• Yosdaimy, from Bauta: "When there is no electricity, they cook with charcoal or firewood. Charcoal is very expensive, but sometimes it can be found, and firewood is gathered in the woods... In my family, there have been cases where they are making rice, and right when they set it to cook, the electricity goes out; the rice gets ruined."

Messages of Gratitude

• "Thanks so much for everything that's been sent to me. I'm very grateful."

• "My child, look, they made a gesture for me that I don't know how to pay them back for. Wow, I feel... it makes me so incredibly happy to see that these girls have come to my house. I would like to have a way to pay them back because it's a gesture that I appreciate, sincerely, with my heart in my hand." — An elderly food recipient in Havana.

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