Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child’s entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.
Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports 18 families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.
The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC is continuing to make a difference. Here’s the latest update from the AFCC:
We are off to an excellent start for 2021, and the first part of January has been a busy time. The families picked up their January despensas. The children were surprised on Three Kings Day with toys donated by Timothy Real Estate Group and Vallarta Food Bank. Some of the despensas were donated by Vallarta Food Bank too. A huge thank you to both.
Several of the children are still traveling back and forth to Guadalajara for treatments. One of our newer girls is just 3 years old and another Mia. She goes back to the hospital in Guadalajara 5 to 6 times a month, so she really needs lots of help.
One of our donors asked that her donation goes to warm clothes for the children because it’s turned so cold. We’ve purchased warm clothes for Valentina, Mia, Alanna, and Madeline, traveling to Guadalajara a few times a month. New shoes for everyone, and Carlos will be getting a warm jacket this month. Thank you, Ruth.
We also received some sheets and blankets from Sharon Darling Rose. Something to keep the children warm at night. Thank you, Sharon.
And the “icing on the cake” as they say – the birthday cake!! Thanks to April and Bill Miton, we received several piñatas to give to the children. We initially thought we’d save them for Children’s Day on April 30th. But anticipation got the better of us, and we gave some of the children who have birthdays this month or coming up a special surprise. They were delighted. Thank you too to Angela Keller.
You have been so generous throughout the holiday season and the whole of 2020, and we can’t begin to thank you enough. We started the Go Get Funding campaign in March when the pandemic started, and we were all isolated. The past ten months have been difficult for everyone but especially for these families. Thanks to your continued donations, we’ve been able to give the children their much-needed treatments, monthly food despensas, and medications.
There have been special donations for fridges, mattresses, and help towards Monse’s surgery. You are all heroic in assisting these families, and we couldn’t have made it through the year without your help. We can’t begin to find words to express our appreciation!
Please help us to help these families so they can focus on the most important thing… getting their child the treatments they need and on the track towards being healthy. You can donate to help cover medicines, food and many of the other requirements for these struggling families through GoGetFunding.com.
