San Judas Chicos Orphanage Fundraiser

Friends and Family!

I am coming to you all with the hopes of raising money to bring some joy to the 45 girls at San Judas Chico Orphanage in Cusco, Peru.

Having spent the past 4 weeks volunteering at the orphanage, one fact has repeatedly presented itself to me – the absence of a free-spirited, fun-oriented childhood I (and hopefully most of you) was so privileged with and sadly feel these girls will never experience.

On my first day at the orphanage, I was shown the one lone shelf of broken toys and games the girls have to play with when not given tasks such as carrying stacks of wood to an overflowing pile of trash, sweeping the floors and washing the windows with old pieces of, hand washing and hanging the few articles of clothing they have and scrubbing away the residue left by the chickens that roam their backyard. When the girls aren't busy with the variety of adult tasks they are constantly given, their choices for a sense of a childhood remain painfully low. Currently, the shelf of toys consists of the following:

•  2 puzzles missing various pieces
• 1 Sponge Bob matching memory game with seven absent pairs
• A small stack of torn-up books
• 1 game of Bingo
• 1 game of Twister
• A broken Checkers set that must be carefully assembled to attempt to use.
• A few broken dolls 

Therefore, with the help of whoever can afford it, I am asking for small donations from friends and family so I can purchase some new toys, games and art supplies for the girls at the orphanage.

Whether it is $5, $10, $20 or $50, any and all donations will be incredibly appreciated by the 45 girls (ranging in ages 5-15) at the orphanage. As Peru is a developing country and most items remain at a very low cost, I can assure that even a small donation will go a very long way!

Even earlier this week, saddened with my usual routine of finding small pebbles from the backyard for a game of ‘pick up jacks’ or finding small pieces of wood and cloth to make a dolls dream house, I bought the girls some paper, markers and colored pencils. With a mere $14 (37 soles), I was able to spend the next morning at a table with smiling and overjoyed girls finally given the freedom to use new crafts that wouldn't hinder the painfully small amount of personal supplies they have. It will only take a few minutes to make donations and can guarantee any form of donation will bring abundant smiles to a hopeful group of girls who deserve a sense of fun and diversions in their lives!

 I have set a goal of $250 dollars, but again, any and all donations will be amazingly helpful! All you need to do is follow the link on this page and make your donations through PayPal and the money will be transferred to my account. While I will be volunteering for the next 4 weeks, I have set a deadline a week and a half earlier (November 6th) to my last day to have some time to make purchases and provide all who donate with photographs of the gifts and girls.

In addition, for those interested, I am more than happy to send replies with specifics on what exactly their donations were used for! The money will be transfered to an account of mine and, of course, ALL withdrawn for the purchase of toys, games and art supplies.

Please feel free to send me any questions or ask for more information at [email protected]

Thanks so much!! :)