JuanMartin’s Toy Drive

Surrounding yourself with supportive and like-minded people is very important in every area of life.  It is especially important when you are a missionary and rely on the financial and moral support of your friends, families and other people in your life to make your dreams of helping others to come true.

My friend, JuanMartin, is a very special guy.  He is a year younger than me and we went to the same high school.  For almost three years, we had been going to the same school and I had heard about him time and time again in relation to the group that I do mission work with, but had never realized that I had been seeing him almost every day for so long.

One day, a friend of mine sent me a picture that he had posted because she recognized the setting: it was the guardaria that I had visited on a mission trip the summer before.  I ended up meeting him in school shortly after and we clicked over a mutual love for hundreds of little Dominican kids.

This past December, he collected nearly 300 toys during the drive and I had the honor of being part of the distribution.  We had so many toys that we were able to give something brand new to each student of the 114 students in the guardaria, as well as restock the school’s toy and puzzle closet.  Even after that, we had extras to give out for siblings, another mission group, and to take out to kids (some being orphans) in less developed communities.

I am so honored to be JuanMartin’s friend.  As I mentioned, it is so important to have positive and supportive friends in your life, and I certainly have a few great companions.  I am so excited for the things that Juan will do with his future, as he continues to give his all to help others.