11/15/08 Photo Gallery
Update!
We've updated our
PhotoBucket Album with lots of pictures
from the last few weeks. Including the distribution of blankets to the
La Casa del Esperanza (the House of Hope) as well as pictures of several
children who took part in cleft pallet clinic at the Cancun General
Hospital. More details coming soon...
As an added bonus Nancy has scanned
several of the Thank You letters that are being mailed to the supporters
of the Blanket Drive earlier this year.
Click Here to download the scans. (PDF
File)
11/12/08
Thanks to The Hard Rock Cafe Cancun for their Support!
Give A
Toy Get A Smile is so proud to be working with the Hard Rock Cafe.
located in the Forum By the Sea Shopping Plaza. When you bring a toy for
one of our children for Christmas, you will be greeted with open arms by
the wonderful staff of young men and women. On behalf of Give A Toy Get
A Smile and Hard Rock Cafe...We wish you a Happy Holiday Season!
11/4/08
Things are coming together!
Below is a
message from our founder Nancy.
Slowly, things are starting to come together for the Christmas Holidays. We
have collected (lots of) toys and toys and money donations are still coming
in. It's going to be a very joyous and exciting
Christmas!
I am
looking forward to NurseinLA coming to Cancun this week. We are going to go
to the Casa del Esperanza in Bonfil to give out the blankets we bought for
the children. For those that helped out by donating a blanket, I will be
sending out THANKS YOU's from the children. I am sure they will be thrilled
to receive these blankets. It is starting to get cooler in Cancun now, so
they couldn't come soon enough!
We
have a number of places we will be donating toys to:
2 schools for
children with severe emotional, physical and
mental handicaps
2
orphanages (Bonfil and La Casita)
The Little Yellow
Schoolhouse in
Isla Mujeres
The
children of "Learning
to Live with AIDS-HIV"
The
children in Hospital General
The
children located in the jungle
We
are sure to get a lot of smiles with all the beautiful toys we have for the
children!
I am
also very proud to announce that the November/December issue of
Home and Away Magazine, put out by the AAA has listed Give A Toy Get
A Smile this month. Go to their website
www.homeandawaymagazine.com
and write Cancun in the search and you will see
Cancun Christmas Cheer. Thank you Home and Away Magazine for supporting and
promoting this drive!
10/22/08 Christmas is
fast approaching!
2008 is flying by and we're almost
ready to start handing out Christmas and Three Kings Day presents to the
less fortunate kids around the area. Thanks to all of our wonderful and
generous supporters, 2008 is set to be yet another record year for us
and we still have over two months to collect more toys for the kids! Be
sure to check back frequently, as we will be updating the site more and
more as we get closer to Christmas and we will also be sure to take lots
of pictures for
our Photobucket album so everyone can
share in the smiles! So tell your neighbors, tell your friends, and
scream from the rooftops!
Give A Toy Get A Smile!
9/15/08 Backpack and
school supplies distribution details!
After some delay Nancy has found the
time to write up a brief description of some of her most recent
distributions of the school supplies and backpacks that we have
collected. Below, the words of our founder Nancy;
On September 1, Andy and I loaded up our pick-up truck and off we went into the
jungle. We saw that many children already had backpacks to go to school with but
we found this little village of many children just after the bridge after
Valladolid Nuevo. What a bunch of nice people! I spent 10 minutes trying to
explain why we were there and then a man came up to me and said, "Seņora, ellos
hablan PURO MAYA"! They only speak Mayan....okay! Between my friend, (the
comedian, he thought it was so funny that I was trying to explain in
Spanish....and my Spanish is BAD enough!) and a lot of sign language, I was
able to convey my point. We gave out backpacks and school supplies to all the
children in the village.
We then headed towards Chiquila. We saw a bunch of kids and we finished giving
out the rest of the backpacks. We had one little boy...I'll never forget him. He
saw us leaving, and he didn’t' get his backpack. He jumped on his bicycle and
rode past us and cut us off and stopped...FRED FLINTSTONE STYLE, and with NO
SHOES! OUCH! He came over to the car and said "Me regalo una muchilla por
favor?" (Can you please give me a backpack?). We did and happily, he jumped back
on his bike and rode off!
It was a great experience and after seeing the kids in our little village, we
realized the dire need for shoes....NOT REGULAR SHOES! THEY LIKE FLIP-FLOPS!
Flip-flops with Princesses on them or Spiderman or pretty jewelry...they LOVED
IT!
We had the pleasure of taking Ryan and Sonia Louisa (RLouisa on TripAdvisor) and
their boys to the village the following Friday. They got to see, first-hand, how
we do our distribution. We all had a great time, trying on shoes and giving out
small toys. One Granny came over to me, gave me a big hug and kissed my cheek
and said "Gracias". She then went to Sonia and Ryan, hugged them, kissed them
both on the cheek and said " Gracias". Then she went over to Andy, and to
EVERYONE'S SURPRISE, she hugged him and PLANTED A BIG KISS on his lips. We
almost fell over! But she really wanted to show her gratitude!
We had a wonderful afternoon with the Louisa Family and we were excited for them
to see the families we meet. Ryan mentioned that he noticed that, not only do we
have smiles from the kids, but that all the adults are smiling too! We had a
great day and made lots of smiles!
9/2/08 Backpack and
school supplies are going out!
The
distribution of backpacks and school supplies to the kids who need them
is underway. Be sure to check
our Photobucket Album for all of the
latest pictures.
8/13/08 Large Bag
Donation!
We have
received a donation of 187 assorted
school bags from Sr. Jorge Resendis Gomez of Mexico City just in time
for our back to school distributions! We cant wait to start handing them
out to the kids who need them most packed with school supplies so they
can get off to a good start with the new school year!
6/30/08 Blanket drive
update!
Below is a message from Nancy regarding the drive to purchase new
blankets for
the children in La Casa del Esperanza.
The
Company that I ordered the blanket and sheet sets from, in the US for the kids
in the orphanage, has also decided to DONATE a bunch o' more blankets for other
children in this area! Again, I almost cried! They told me over the phone when I
called to confirm my order! How GREAT is that???
Thanks to all my TA Angels (you know who you are) for helping me to keep things
alive...Contact me so we can have a drink on behalf of the kids (I only drink
Coca-Cola, so not to worry!)
6/30/08 Temptations
Resort joins Give a Toy Get a Smile!
We are pleased to announce that the
Temptations Resort in Cancun is now a drop off for donations
and has agreed to help us gather toys for the children in Cancun this
Christmas.
6/15/08 Biggest Single
Cash Donation to Date!
Below is a message from our founder Nancy,
Today, we were thrilled to receive a donation of $2,650 usd
from
Mary Kay Cosmetics
European Division. This money will be used to buys toys in New York this
summer and making Christmas-time a lot brighter for these children.
AeroMexico has also joined us by donating an extra box to the kids to
bring down toys every time my husband returns to Cancun (once every 3
weeks). This allows us to buy a greater variety of toys and donated
toys!
6/15/08 New Puerto
Morelos Drop Off!
We now have a new donation drop off
in Puerto Morelos for supporters who are visiting the area. It's
David Lau's Chinese Food and Pizza right in
the main square.
6/14/08 Blanket Drive
Below is a
message from our founder Nancy regarding her efforts to collect blankets
for local children...
The Blanket Drive for the children in La Casa del Esperanza (the House of Hope)
reached the goal of 18 Disney Blanket Sets. These blanket and sheet sets will be
donated to the kids at the orphanage in November, when it gets a bit colder.
Thank you to everyone from Trip Advisor that donated and for your kindness and
generosity!
Big hugs, kisses and SMILES from the Cancun Kids
(to the following supporters)
BobDidIt, CherylP,
BSQ, NurseinLA, poftheo, Monkatom, Kayem, MMT, Selluacaddy, May2000, ala2kw,
Beloro, Penny Penguin, lexyca, Debbie, Ellabear, ladyme1, luvcancun08, and
n2pizza from Trip Advisor.
Thank You to Howie and Tamar Baylarian for buying a blanket, too!
5/13/08
2008 Recent Distributions Below is a message from our founder Nancy,
detailing her activities for Mexico's Children's Day and the last
several weeks....
Click here to see all of the photos!
Hey
everyone! Here is a review of how the Children's Day celebrations went.
Friday, April
25th, I went to the Casa de Esperanza in Bonfil. I gave out clothing to
the children, we played Cinderella (if the shoes fit, they got them!) and we
had donuts and juice. The kids were very happy to recieve new T-shirts and
shorts, pants and socks.
Wednesday,
April 30th I went to La Casita with the help of some of the ladies at
the International Women's Club. In the morning we made over 100 Peanut
Butter and Jelly sandwiches and then at 4:00 we started the party. We played
a relay race and then Simon Sez.
Armando the Magician came by to entertain
the kids for about an hour. They were amazed at his tricks. I still can't
figure out how he turned those hankerchiefs different colors. We then went
into the dining area and the kids had their sandwiches and cake and juice,
provided by the IWC. Then I gave out the toys that were donated, for the
most part, by all my frineds on TA! THEY WERE SO HAPPY! Everyone had a new
toy! We left La Casita feeling really good!
Wednesday, May
7th we went to the school for the children with severe handicaps. This
is really our most rewarding experience...these children are so loving and
were so happy to receive the toys. These children loved the matchbox cars,
stuffed animals and backpacks. They were so appreciative and thanked us for
bringing them the toys.
Friday, May
9th we started out early. We picked up Selluacaddy and Beachjunky and
off we went to the Hospital General. We gave out coloring books and crayons
and stuffed animals to the children. We got BIG SMILES from the children,
the moms, the dads, the nurses, selluacaddy and Beachjunky! The SMILES were
flowing! We went out for a quick lunch and then headed over to the orphanage
in Bonfil. Andy had brought down 2 scooters for the kids and they LOVED
them. Each child took a turn and helped the little ones ride it too. Sellu
and Beach were happy to see that the children were so friendly and shared
their things. I was a bit worried that they would scoop up the children and
run....there was so much love in their eyes! One little girl grabbed Sellu's
arm and had to have a picture with him. Then another young girl grabbed him
for another photo. All the children were just FASCINATED with his tattoos!
Sellu and Beach had brought BAGS of toys and stuffed animals to donate and
then ran BACK TO WALMART with us to buy a BUNCH MORE! HOW GOOD ARE THESE
PEOPLE!!?? We spent a wonderful day together and dropped them back off at
the RPLA at 9:45 pm!!
Now, I am
collecting school supplies and backpacks for the beginning of school and
TOYS for Christmas! It's not too early to bring these things down if you are
coming to Cancun. (If you're not coming to Cancun soon, you may make a
donation via PayPal
direct to us!) No donation is too small...every peso goes toward a new toy
for a child!
Thanks
TripAdvisor.com and all the wonderful people that support me. Christmas and
Children's Day are a whole bunch happier because of all of your donations!
Love you ALL!
Nancy
4/4/08
2008 New Toys at Wal-Mart
With some of the generous PayPal
donations we have received from our supports Nancy was able to buy 28
new toys for the kids at Wal-Mart, where we were extended a %10 discount
on many of the items. Below is a short message from Nancy.
( Above
is a photo of ) the basketful of toys we were able to buy thanks to your
donations. The picture shows me with the 2 managers at Wal-Mart that I work
with, Berto and Javier (and associates). We bought our 10 bat and ball sets, a
bunch of action figure dolls, girl dolls, soccer balls and other COOL toys! It
is wonderful to get this money now because Wal-Mart has a lot of toys on
liquidation. The Action figure were normally $199 pesos (or more) and we got
them for $85 pesos! That's a significant savings and it allows me to buy really
nice toys for the kids. Whether you can donate $1.00 or $100, the donation is
greatly appreciated. It's one more toy we can give to a child that might not
have ANY new toys!
Thanks, TA buddies
for your help! Tienen corazones de oro! (You have hearts of gold!) Love you ALL!
Nancy
4/1/08
2008 Give a Toy Get a Smile visits
La Casita
Orphanage! Below is a message from our founder Nancy.
I
had a wonderful experience yesterday at the local orphanage, La Casita, It
was my first visit there and I found the children to be so friendly, curious
about why I was there and very helpful. I went with Tammy Caison, the Ms.
American Dream. We had a great time handing out candy, coloring books,
crayons and slinkies to the kids. I'm really not sure who had a better
time...them or us!
Please find it in
your heart to help us out by donating just a little bit, or by going to (the
store) while you are visiting Cancun and buying some toys for our Drive.
Hard Rock Cafe and Needful Things are collecting toys and school supplies.
Thanks to all my
old and new friends for all the help you have given me and for all the
wonderful smiles I have received from the kids. I could never have done it
without you! Nancy
Be sure to check out
our PhotoBucket Album for all of the most
recent pictures from our distributions.
3/20/08
2008 Collection Officially
Started!!!
The Give a Toy Get a Smile efforts have officially started for 2008!
Lets all make sure this is our best year yet! Already Nancy has been to
the local hospital to spread some smiles and we are making plans for
Mexico's Children's Day! Below is a short message from our founder
Nancy.
I
went to the General Hospital last week and gave out stuffed animals and coloring
books and crayons to the children. You can see how beautiful the children are,
and I tell EVERYONE ALWAYS that the presents that they are receiving come from
the tourists that visit Cancun. You all make SUCH A DIFFERENCE and I could never
have accomplished so much without (our supporters)! You all deserve to see the
smiles I get on your behalf because you are the people that are supplying me the
toys! BIG SMILES AND HUGS FOR YOU ALL!
If
you are coming to Cancun and can't get to a drop off site, call me (once your in
the area) and I will come pick up the toys...Cel...998 204-0072 or my home is
887-5760. I ALWAYS have my cel so that's the best way to find me.
I
have had many requests for people that would like to join me at the Hospital to
give out toys. I like to do that but sometimes it's not possible. I do try to
get over to the Hospital when I have tourists that want to go along. Now that I
am mobile again, my life has become a lot easier. So if you're in town and want
to come along to the Hospital, please let me know in advance and we will try to
make plans to make it happen!
Thanks again to everyone and come on down to Cancun...your home away from home!
Be sure to check out
our PhotoBucket Album for all of the most
recent pictures from our distributions.
All previous news stories have been archived CLICK HERE.
