Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – ‘Vallarta Abuelos,’ a group of Mexican and expat volunteers that focus on giving back to the community by helping underprivileged children has resumed their School Bag Project, which provides low-income children with a new backpack filled with supplies so they can go back to school with everything they need.
Anne Marie Weiss-Armush tells us more:
Our Vallarta Abuelos School Bag Project will benefit nearly a thousand little neighbors who dream of continuing their studies in Kinder, Primaria, Secundaria, and Prepa. For only $20 US, you can provide a low-income child with a new back pack and supplies for the first day of school.
WHO: Most of the 800 children on our list are being raised by single moms or grandmothers who earn the minimum wage (about $6 US a day) by selling tacos or cleaning hotel rooms. As all students must buy uniforms, and youth in junior and senior high must also pay fees, transportation, and lunches, school costs are a real challenge for Vallarta moms!
WHAT: Here in Mexico, a backpack alone can cost from 400 pesos ($22 USD) to more than 1500 pesos ($75 USD). By purchasing wholesale & direct, we are able to make this project possible at a greatly reduced cost!
The Vallarta School Bag Project supports children like 12-year-old Carlitos, who is in 6th grade, and who lives, along with his 15-year old sister Fatima, 11-year old cousin Jonathan, and elderly grandparents, in a very crowded room with a hot plate for cooking and outdoor hose for bathing.
Each afternoon when she goes to her job, Grandmother Elena leaves a pot of beans on the electric burner, and the children serve themselves for lunch and dinner. Grandmother is proud that her work keeps food on the table. But it’s not enough to buy uniforms and shoes. And this is just one example. Please help. The cost is only $20 USD per child.
How to Sponsor a Child:
1. Click HERE to donate through GoFundMe
2. Make a tax-deductible donation via check, mailed to: DFW International, 2717 Hackberry Lane, Garland, Texas 75042
The Vallarta School Bag Project is produced under the auspices of DFW International, a Dallas-based 501c3, and as such can issue receipts for use with US taxes.
About your Donation: 100% of funds collected will be used for this project. We are all volunteers and there are no costs for overhead or staff.
The DFW International Community Alliance is a network of internationally-focused civic, community and educational organizations in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex that embodies the cultural and economic vibrancy of the global community. Our Mission is to build mutual understanding and respect by linking diverse international cultural communities in North Texas.
