Thanksgiving was unlike any other for a group of junior high students at Foothill Christian School. Six students chose to give up time with their families over the holidays in order to travel to the Dominican Republic to distribute food, personal hygiene products, school supplies and uniforms to poor and underprivileged children of Santa Domingo area.
Calling themselves the “D.R. Krew”, students Itali Andrade, Allison De Fina, Jacob Karim, Caitlyn Lim, Alina Mota and Nick Saldivar distributed over 2,000 pounds of items that were collected by students at Foothill Christian and shipped to the Manny Mota Foundation. The Mota Foundation is a charitable organization founded and directed by baseball legend and Los Angeles Dodger coach Manny Mota. The foundation distributes clothing, serves meals to children year-round, and also runs baseball clinics at Mota’s 40-acre Field of Dreams athletic complex.
The Foothill students also visited a local orphanage where they instantly connected and made friends with the children. “To communicate we had to make use of the Spanish we are learning in school and although it was helpful, it seemed like we understood each other through a common language of love,” said student Itali Andrade.
After the exhausting work of serving hundreds of children and families a traditional American turkey dinner in the hot and humid climate, the worn-out team sat in the bleachers overlooking one of the baseball fields and had their own little Thanksgiving meal. After eating, trip organizer and teacher, Jacob Gaines, told the kids, “I know it was tough not to be with their families, but that it was an honor to have Thanksgiving dinner with such great kids, in the stands in a foreign country a few thousand miles away from their homes, to help others.”
Foothill Christian School recently received the National Exemplary Program Award from the Association of Christian Schools International for its Faith in Action program. Whether it’s serving the poor of Los Angeles at the Union Rescue Mission, collecting change for water wells in El Salvador, or going on missions trips to Mexico, Foothill students are given age appropriate ways to make a difference in their world. Last year the students at Foothill raised over $20,000 for various humanitarian projects throughout the world.
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