Woman makes 1,800 trips to feed kids
- added April 18, 2008
- 2 responses
-
-
-
- jcwelker
- added this
-
-
- related topics
-
- News and Politics (20059)
- News (7485)
- Science and Earth (6859)
- Health (2090)
- Food (1153)
- US (944)
- Children (622)
- Peace (482)
- Texas (274)
- Jennifer Welker (256)
- Charity (220)
- Kids (210)
- Good News (23)
El Paso native Maria Ruiz knows firsthand how different life can be a mere 30-minute drive south of her Texas home.
"Just by crossing the border, you're in a Third World country," Ruiz said.
For 12 years, she's traveled several times a week to the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico, bringing aid to hundreds of impoverished children and their families.
Ruiz's family has roots in Juarez, but it wasn't until 1996 that she ventured outside the city.
There, for the first time, she saw poverty in the extreme. People lived in homes made of wooden pallets. The elementary school was built of makeshift materials and had no running water or electricity. Teachers told her that many children were failing because they were hungry.
"My heart went out to those kids," Ruiz recalled. "I couldn't just cross my arms and turn away from it. I needed to do something."
Ruiz got donations from El Paso businesses, and within one week, she was running a food program out of her home. She cooked meals in her kitchen and drove the food south to the Juarez school.
She fed approximately 1,200 children every day for three and a half years, until the businesses she depended on for donations shut down in 1999.
But that didn't stop Ruiz from helping the children in Juarez. Now, working with her husband and two children, she gathers donations from around El Paso -- food, clothing, toys, even furniture -- and distributes them at local "giveaways" a couple of times a month.
"Just by crossing the border, you're in a Third World country," Ruiz said.
For 12 years, she's traveled several times a week to the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico, bringing aid to hundreds of impoverished children and their families.
Ruiz's family has roots in Juarez, but it wasn't until 1996 that she ventured outside the city.
There, for the first time, she saw poverty in the extreme. People lived in homes made of wooden pallets. The elementary school was built of makeshift materials and had no running water or electricity. Teachers told her that many children were failing because they were hungry.
"My heart went out to those kids," Ruiz recalled. "I couldn't just cross my arms and turn away from it. I needed to do something."
Ruiz got donations from El Paso businesses, and within one week, she was running a food program out of her home. She cooked meals in her kitchen and drove the food south to the Juarez school.
She fed approximately 1,200 children every day for three and a half years, until the businesses she depended on for donations shut down in 1999.
But that didn't stop Ruiz from helping the children in Juarez. Now, working with her husband and two children, she gathers donations from around El Paso -- food, clothing, toys, even furniture -- and distributes them at local "giveaways" a couple of times a month.
-
what a wonderful woman.
-
-
-
-
- pressrecord
- 2 months ago
-
-
People should pay attention to her actions,and do more this. She isn' t a rich women ,but she is sharing what she has. All the Paris Hilton's in the world need to pay attention to this.
Login/Registration is required to add a response.
