BajaBlanca
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Merry Christmas 2015 - Santa has been busy! 11/13 update
It is time to get ready for the xmas party I put on for the teens every year. This part started in San Diego last week where mom had already bought
stuff at garage sales, She and I went around to many sales over 2 weekends and I made out bigtime, amigo Mark came by with a big clothes donation
his son made as well as many notebooks, markers and more!
So, this is the incredible view from my mom's house in Point Loma:
One of my first stops was the salvation army that has an amazing array of dress shirts which the boys need for their college presentations - called
exposiciones - quite popular with the professors:
Lots of ties- donated by Mark and well as bought at garage sales by mom and I:
We went to a huge 5 story house garage sale and I bought 7 blankets for $5!
I went to Staples and bought beaucoup notebooks at $1 each:
On the left I found a free microscope for the middle school with a bunch of slides, in the middle I was given a bag of crayons which I gave to the
elementary school and on the far right, I bought 3 finger paint sets for sale at a 99 cent store for 50 cents each, which I dropped off at the
kindergarden:
I think I got these at dollar days:
and here is the spare bedroom at the house! I am giving each student a bath towel and I am missing 9 if anyone feels so inclined to bring some down!
I bought a bar of soap plus collected hotel soaps from our European trip so each one will get a bunch of soaps, under the chair are 3 laundry
detergents and I need many many more so each one gets one! I got those at dollar days:
These are beautiful highliters donated by Mark as well as razors that I bought:
and here are the boxes - two amigas are wrapping the boxes in xmas paper that I got for free at one of the garage sales. In this shot is Minerva, who
has come twice to help me organize clothes shampoos toothbrushes etc. We started with the 9 ladies boxes:
Stashing the girls' boxes in the garage...:
some girls have made out BIGTIME since my sister donated gorgeous almost new, famous brand blouses!
Yours truly carrying a full box -eventually every blouse, shampoo, notebook etc. will be individually wrapped:
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and that is the end of part I. This is a labor of love and I cant do it without help. Thanks CaboMagic for donating some cash to make this happen!
That money went so so so far. Thanks to my friend Susan who also gave generously. Since there are now 21 students and I want them all to know I
really care about every single one of them, this takes time - effort and mostly some cash. My dream is for each one to have one dollar day laundry
detergent (I have 3) , one large shampoo each and I have none yet, each one to get 7 notebooks so they are set for the semester and I have 2 each,
each one to get a bath towel and I need 9, each one to get a toothbrush (I need 12) and each one to get a toothpaste (I have all 21 coming in
December!!!!). The ladies are all getting awesome clothes and the boys will all probably have 4 really nice dress shirts each and one pair of shorts
and 2 ties each. For fun there will be candy and some brand new backpacks, one will get a sleeping bag ....and I will return to San Diego in
December so as to finish up this wishlist.
Thanks all who have supported me over the years and I still have 4 students of the 5 straight A candidates this year who need a tuition sponsor at
$200 a semester. I just got their grades and they ALL have an A+ average for the last two grading periods (called parciales). Pretty impressive !
[Edited on 11-13-2015 by BajaBlanca]
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woody with a view
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Nice job Blanca!
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BajaBlanca
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thanks ! having a blast doing this. the worst part is Les complaining about the zoo in the spare bedroom - gonna have to organize myself faster
LOL
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shari
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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You are an angel Blanca! Those lucky kids....our amigo Stan who couldnt make this trip due to an ailing doggie sent down a box for you that is here at
our place so I can try to send it with someone or maybe you want to come for some shrimp tacos this weekend?
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BajaBlanca
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ohh ohhh ohhh! how cool is that!!!??? we are too busy at the B&B to come up. Is there any way you could give it to Padre Jesus from the
Catholic church? He took a laptop given to me to donate to a kid in Asuncion last Sunday. I bet he would bring the box down!
Please thank Stan and I sure hope the dog is better.
My cell for the priest is 615 107-2400.
I just got the grades for the kids who are in this year's scholarship program and who need sponsors HINT HINT HINT
Remember - every little bit helps.....$200 a semester is 100% tuition! I have one down (Olimpia) and 4 to go. I thought I would share some of their
stories with you:
This is Martha - her dad is a policeman in Punta Abreojos and ma is a housewife. Martha is thinking of studying engineering:
check out her friggin' grades you guys!!!!! When I say straight A, I really mean straight A's: 10=100 (A)
Here is a teacher evaluation which I get every month for each candidate:
This is Alondra. She wants to be an engineer. I have known her for years since her family and I have worked on many projects together - sports to
cleanups. Her dad is a local pastor and her mom is a housewife but oh so much more. She takes in kids who are at risk and helps them out, including
one son who got into drugs. Alondra is independent, smart and goal oriented:
This is Alberto. Quiet and pensive, he is the gentleman in the group. He lives with his aunt and uncle as his parents live in La Laguna de san
Ignacio, his dad is a fisherman. He wants to become an engineer.
This is Karla Valeria and she wants to become a dentist! I so hope she can do it and come back and help out our community. The kids have horrible
dental hygiene problems - all of them so avoidable with TLC. Karla is bright, and always has a smile on her face. She came to La Bocana in her
junior year of high school and quickly fit it. She lives with an aunt and uncle since her parents divorced and money became an issue for them.
Whatever you ask her, she always says "yes". My kinda girl:
Her GPA is 91%:
In August, her teacher review said she was a little distracted in class, so she got 95% in behavior:
I suggested she move her desk to the front and look at the latest review: MUCHO MEJOR MAKES ME MUCHO HAPPY!!
Lastly we have Olimpia. Her dad died in a car crash years ago - he was president of the cooperative at the time and mom has been struggling a lot to
make it all work. Olimpia needed money for various senior events and decided to open her own business up. Every afternoon she sets up a little booth
and sells sodas and specialty chips to her peers in the main square. Her mom teared up as she told me she has not had to give her any pocket money
all year long. I have a tuition sponsor for her - a Puerto Rican student who learned English with me 15 years ago will pay for her college education
($400 a year). She does need a monthly allowance and $100 should do it since she will live rent free. Meet Olimpia - future lawyer!
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BajaBlanca
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Quick update:
Here I am getting the boys' boxes done - all 13 of them! Plenty of ties, plenty of pens and pencils, one toothbrush each, one bar of soap, one
deodorant each, one shaver each, average 4 shirts and 2 shorts each, a towel and one little surprise like a keychain or backpack (thanks so much
Mike from La Bocana!!!!!).
There are 22 kids in all and all the boxes are 99% ready with goodies - now it's time to wrap the individual gifts (gonna find some helpers for this
part) and pray that someone donates 7 laptops for the kids who will be starting college in the Fall There is no way they can compete if they don't
have a computer for research. Even tests are now given on computers during class!
Please be sure to leave a comment - it is so fun to hear from all of youse.
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CaboMagic
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Ho Ho Hello Mrs Santa Blanca  Reading this thread and viewing the photos make me
and my heart smile .. I knew you would put our cash donation to good use! We always wish we could do more - there are so many worthy causes for us to
give to. Thanks for all you do, and for sharing here so we can see where it goes .. Lori
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BajaBlanca
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Thanks for the cash Lori, it went really far in getting stuff for the kids!
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BajaBlanca
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and we are moving right along getting ready for the Christmas party - today my great amiga and next door neighbor Linda came
We put candy into bags for all 22 kids:
And for those dentists and dental hygienists out there - they will all be getting a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste as well as a talk on how to
care for their teeth.
and we started separating boxes for each student to have wrapped t-shirts and shirts and shorts- I have 4 boxes per student = 88 boxes! Tomorrow
amiga Mary and Kim will be helping to actually put the clothes into the boxes. Right now we have taken over Les's office (the garage):
With all the help I am getting, this is turning out great! So excited to see their faces come party day.
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TMW
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This is really great. Thanks for sharing with us.
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BajaBlanca
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Be sure and tell Les this is great when you see him -right now all he does is ROLL his eyes every time he walks into his "office"  )))
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