Early Christmas joy for Cristo Rey RC School in Belize
Christmas is near and the cheer was shared very early this year with the students of Cristo Rey RC primary school! The Herron family from Florida, USA presented a sizeable donation to the staff and students of the Belizean primary school through Chaa Creek’s Pack-a-Pound initiative.
Linda Herron, mother of Alexa, age 12 and Lucas age 6 said, “this year Lucas decided that instead of receiving gifts for his birthday, he asked for donations to be given to a school.” “I contacted our family’s travel agent and we were referred to Chaa Creek’s Pack-a-Pound Program.”
Linda, her husband Scott and her 2 children Alexa and Lucas booked a flight to Belize in spirits of sharing the Christmas joy with the future of Belize – young students. The following day after their arrival Linda and Alexa were joined by Chaa Creek guides Ricky and David, including Roberto from the marketing team and set off to a short and bumpy ride.
The students and staff of Cristo Rey RC primary school received Linda and Alexa with bright smiles and shy faces, including colourful balloons with a “welcome” message written on them! The sparkle in the eyes of every student and their jovial spirit will accompany the Herron family for many more years to come.
The staff and students of Cristo Rey RC primary school put together a surprise program as the principal Mr. Russell Canto welcomed Linda and Alexa to the school in the Cayo District. Everyone joined in an opening prayer followed by the singing of the Belize National Anthem. Soon after, three beautiful young girls presented their “mestizada” and “cassava” dance, depicting the Mestizo and Garifuna culture respectively – Linda and Alexa couldn’t help it, they were wearing warm smiles.
As the presentations ended, the principal gave Chaa Creek’s guides the go-ahead to take in the boxes! You can guess what happened next – excitement filled the room! Linda did the favor of opening the boxes and out came the contents! Brand new school bags, pens, pencils, posters, crayons, markers, SD cards and even cameras! Yes! Each classroom got a digital camera, among many other school supplies! But that’s not all; Ms. Linda surprised the school with yet another sizeable donation that she managed to put together through Guardian Burglar Alarm, owned by herself and her husband Scott and also assisted by Alexa’s and Lucas’s school. Together they pooled an amount of $2,500USD and presented the cheque to Mr. Canto.
You know that feeling when a kid gets a chocolate cookie after sometime not having it? We felt the contentment in their hearts and it was such a great feeling!
Marketing administrator Mr. Roberto Harrison spoke to Mr. Canto about the needs of the school, “We have almost everything we need at the moment, however we have been trying to seek donation for a projector. We have been borrowing a projector from a teacher for the times we have needed it but we wouldn’t like to depend on it.” He went on to say, “our students enjoy the visual aspect that a projector brings to the classroom and our computer monitors are not enough at the moment”. “We are also in need of new furniture, we need single tables and chairs for our students and we would be grateful if we can receive the assistance with that.”
If you would like to assist with the donation of the projector or donate towards the furniture needs of Christo Rey RC Primary School please contact us HERE
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