By Mary Lou Hofmann | CAA Board of Directors
This past year, as in previous years, CAA members worked together to brighten the lives of children in poverty by purchasing and delivering toys to them at Christmas. This year, however, there was an additional dimension of inspiration and kindness added to CAA’s Christmas giving activities.
When Janice, a CAA member, was helping deliver the toys to the children, most of whose families were seasonal migrant workers living in challenging conditions, she noticed that many of the children were not wearing shoes. A close friend of hers, Dorothy, was coming from the US in January to visit and Janice asked Dorothy if she would be willing to scour a few Goodwill stores for children’s shoes and bring them with her. Dorothy agreed and then had an even better idea!
Dorothy belongs to a group called Buy Nothing (buynothingproject.org), where people give away items for free that they no longer need to those in the group who need them. When Dorothy explained to her local group that there were children in Costa Rica that really needed shoes, the response was overwhelming—FIFTY-ONE pairs of gently used children’s shoes were donated!
Once Dorothy and the shoes arrived in Costa Rica, CAA members swung into action, cleaning those shoes that needed it and revisiting the migrant communities to find little feet that fit the shoes in the sizes that were available. Over half the fifty-one pairs that Dorothy brought were given to the migrant children. The remaining pairs were donated to a local non-profit that, among other things, runs an after-school program for the children of the impoverished families they serve who live in an extremely poor district of San Ramon. The children are able to use the points they earn for reading and doing homework to “purchase” shoes in the organization's store.
Thanks to the ever-widening circle of generosity of CAA members and friends, there are now happy smiles and happy feet for at least fifty-one children in need in our community!
Muchas gracias!
By Mary Lou Hofmann | CAA Board of Directors
By Mary Lou Hofmann | CAA Board of Directors
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