BPP Preschool Toy Drive a Huge Success!

A couple of weeks before Christmas I reached out to friends, family and In Nica Now fans and followers for some help.  I asked people to purchase gifts for the Barrio Planta Project Preschool. (To view my original post click here.)

Donations immediately started pouring in.

I was – and still am – blown away.

Thirty people donated a total of $912.

Yes, that’s right, $912!  

We also received gift donations from an additional nine people.

– Coloring books, crayons, princess dresses, play-doh, sidewalk chalk, scissors and glue. You name it BPP Preschool now has it!

With the money collected and gifts received we not only have enough coloring books, crayons, toys, games, puzzles and arts & craft supplies to sustain the preschool program for a year, we were also able to allocate $200 for supplies for some of the other programs at BPP.

Preschool classes were not in session when my sister, my Dad and I delivered everything to the school, but fortunately there were a few older students around who snuck out of class to help us unpack everything and share in our excitement. 

– I’m not sure who was more excited the kids or us!

The children had huge smiles on their faces as we unpacked two large suitcases.

– My Dad really enjoyed helping out with the delivery and organization of the toys and supplies.

They were wide eyed with excitement as they tried to make a decision on what to play with first. I kept hearing the words “Wow!” and “Mira! Mira!” [“Look! Look!”].

We colored for a bit, tried on a few of the costumes and we even had time for a tea party.

– We now have coloring books for everyone!

– And we even have dress up costumes for the boys!

The  girls really enjoyed the dolls and boys loved the plastic animals and dinky cars.

– Huge thanks to my sister Sally for shopping for me and transporting the “goods” from Calgary, Alberta here to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I couldn’t have done this without you!

– My sister Sally and I enjoyed the Tea Party!

Thanks to the generosity of donors from Canada, the United States and Nicaragua Barrio Planta Project Preschool program can now operate like a typical North American preschool.

I look forward to visiting the preschool kids next week once classes resume on the 19th. And I can’t wait to play a game of Snakes & Ladders!

– From the bottom my heart THANK YOU!  Thank you SOOOOOOOO MUCH!

To learn more about Barrio Planta Project and how you can help make a difference in the life of a child in Nicaragua check out the official Barrio Planta Project website by clicking here.