Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Students at Vic West Elementary School in Victoria, BC, Canada recently learned the importance and value of building better communities and helping others in need.

When 9-year-old Codi Cross heard that many of the students who attend the Emiliano Zapata Kindergarten School in Puerto Vallarta could not afford the basic school supplies, she wanted to make a difference.

Codi organized and led a fundraiser in her school to collect an abundance of needed supplies. Within 2 weeks Codi exceeded her goals and packed it all into WestJet humanitarian suitcases and headed off to Puerto Vallarta to deliver the goodies and visit her grandparents, Charlotte Semple and Carole Fast.

9-year-old Canadian student Codi Cross (center) delivering school supplies to students at the Emiliano Zapata Kindergarten School in Puerto Vallarta.

Codi delivered the bounty to the school principal, Olga, and one of the kindergarten classes. It was like Christmas morning when she opened up the suitcases and began passing around new books, crayons, pencils, playdoh, games, and colouring books. The children squealed and giggled with excitement as they took turns examining each new discovery.

More about the school: The Emiliano Zapata Kindergarten School has a total of 189 students and 12 teachers and approximately half the students cannot afford supplies. The school is publicly funded and only receives money for teachers' salaries and a small amount for maintenance, nothing for school supplies.

How you can help: The students of Emiliano Zapata Kindergarten are in constant need of even the most basic school supplies. Stop by the Old Town Farmers Market info booth, located on the corner of Pino Suarez and Basilio Badillo, with a donation of school supplies and receive a free ticket to be entered into the raffle. All proceeds from the raffle go toward projects to help the school.

The Old Town Farmers Market-Tiangius Cultural is located on Pino Suarez between V. Caranza and B. Badillo and runs from the first Saturday in November to the last Saturday in May. For more information about the Market visit their website at OldTownFM.com or follow them on facebook at Old Town Farmers' Market Puerto Vallarta.

Click HERE to read more about the Puerto Vallarta Old Town Farmers' Market.