In September 30, 2009, there were an estimated 423,773 children in foster care in the United States. UNICEF estimates that there are at least 210 million orphaned children all over the world. As you can clearly see, there are children all over the world who are considerably less fortunate than us. For these children, their number one priority is staying alive by acquiring food and water. Clothes and other unnecessary items fall at the bottom of the list. However, there is one senior here at AHS trying to make a difference for the children of the El Sauzal Orphanage in Mexico. As her senior project, Elli Mallory is putting together an orphanage clothes drive.
Every year during Spring Break, select youth participants in the First Baptist Church of Ashland embark on a mission trip to Mexico. On the trip, the participants basically help in any way they can through things such as work projects. Mallory has always loved the spring break mission trips that her youth group goes on and she really wanted to go above and beyond with helping others. As previously mentioned, all the clothes given to Mallory will be donated to the El Sauzal Orphanage down in Baja, Mexico, near Ensenada. Established in 1967, this is a family run orphanage that “was founded as a home for the needy children, those who has been deserted, whose families can not feed or clothe them, and those who have no family.”
Organizing a fundraiser on her own terms is a completely new experience for Mallory. She has participated in school and church fundraisers, so she does have some useful background information to work with. Mallory has already begun the clothes drive and has even gotten some great donations as well. She has asked local churches to donate and has also set up a Facebook page with more information pertaining to the project. Mallory says, “I wanted to make it convenient for everyone, so I’m not making it a single day thing.”
From this project, Mallory is not only hoping to gain some experience in fundraising and marketing, but she also wants to be able to get some missionary experience for when her youth group goes to deliver the clothes and help out with the work projects at the orphanage. For anyone who doesn’t know what to do for their senior project, she suggests “picking something that you would actually consider doing later in life because they’re aren’t all that many rules. Senior Projects are one of the few projects that you have complete freedom in doing.” Clothes are due to Mallory by March 13th at the latest so be sure to go out and donate any clothes you can!
