Local students collect, donate backpacks to orphans in El Salvador
Lola and Isabella Martin appear to be ordinary elementary school students. But something the sisters did recently is anything but. It is in fact extraordinary.
Playing ball in their driveway one afternoon, the kindergartner and fourth grader took a short break to tell me about their recent collection and donation of 100-plus school supply-filled backpacks for orphans in El Salvador. Their father, Bennett Martin, worked through a local nonprofit, USA New Horizons to build a playground and soccer field/basketball court in a rural village in the Central American country. When they saw what their father was able to accomplish, they decided to get in on the act. The backpack donation was entirely their own idea.
The girls’ mom, Sheila Martin, set up collection bins at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church and Bon Marche Thrift Store, where more than 30 gently used backpacks were collected. Sheila Martin was also able to enlist the help of Charlie Stamps, vice president of retail operations for Goodwill Industries of the Redwood Empire, who donated another 100 backpacks.
The orphanage where the backpacks were taken, Corazón de Maria, is located in the indigenous town of Izalco in the western department of Sonsonate, El Salvador. The orphanage was started during El Salvador’s civil war when army soldiers would drop off children orphaned by the war at the home of a few nuns. The nuns soon had a full house. As a means of helping as many children as possible, the nuns began growing their own food in a donated plot of land. The seeds in each backpack will go a long way toward that effort.
At the end of Oct., the filled backpacks were delivered to the orphanage by local volunteer Gary Stein. Each student – from elementary school age through high school – got to choose his or her own backpack, a thrilling experience for children who have next to nothing.
“I don’t really think Lola and Isabella understand what their donation means to these children,” said Bennett Martin as he watched them playing catch.
According to boardmember Michael Irvine, USA New Horizons has been working in El Salvador since 2001. Their next project is building a burn unit for the Bloom Children’s Hospital in El Salvador. They are currently fundraising for this effort and need a total of $20,000 to cover construction and equipment costs.
For more information about this project or other projects of USA New Horizons or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit the web site at usanewhorizons.org.
