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.

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– 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. 

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– 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.

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– 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.

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– We now have coloring books for everyone!
BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– And we even have dress up costumes for the boys!

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!

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

Barrio Planta Project Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– 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!
BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– My sister Sally and I enjoyed the Tea Party!

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!

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!

BPP Preschool Program Toy Drive a Huge Success!
– 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.

10 Comments

  1. It was great to be at the school with Elisha and help unpack the supplies. The smiles on the kids faces certianly lit up my day. I am very proud of my daughter Elisha for taking on this project and helping the children in her new community.

    Willard MacKay

    Willard MacKay
  2. What a fabulous response! Sorry that I missed out. I’ll be arriving in Granada in mid-April. At some point I am hoping that I can meet the two of you. I’ve been a fan of your In Nica Now blog for several months. In fact, that’s how I got in touch with Glenn Koons and made arrangements for a place to live over the next year.

    1. Steve,

      I think you’re going to be really enjoy living at Vista Mombacho. The apartments are super! Glenn is a great guy who works really hard at helping the expat community in Granada stay connected.

      We’d love to meet you one day!

      Elisha

  3. It’s great to see the photos of everything being opened. It was a lot of fun to be a part of this! Thank you to you & your family for making it happen.

    Stephanie vanVliet-Wells
  4. Elisha, great job, I got to see the “stuff” at the school when I visited San Juan del Sur in January. I could recognize the areas of the school having seen your photos of the school happenings in the past months. It was really great just to be there and see where the kids have an opportunity for learning, playing and just socializing. Keep up the great work! Please give a big thanks for all the staff there for caring about the needs of the children in San Juan del Sur. How is Maggie Mae doing?

    Tarin
  5. Thank you for organizing this, and doing a great job with the pictures. I like that you bought stuff for pretend play. Last Spring we brought a duffle bag full of legos and puzzles to La Esperanza Granada. I was happy to be able to donate to this project too.

    Betsy Lennon
  6. The pictures are so heartwarming. We are thrilled to be a small part of your outreach. The children look like they are taking some serious pleasure in all that new, fun stuff. Makes me happy too. I’ve heard it said that a people never stand so tall as when they stoop to help a little child.

    Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:11:12 +0000 To: pilgrimandpatriot@hotmail.com

    Jean Rennie

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