The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Providing help, hope
Perry freshman makes missionary trip to Honduras
Chandice Richards, DDS, and her son McKoy Richards, a freshman at Perry High School, just returned from a service mission trip in Honduras.
This was her second trip with the Honduran Children’s Rescue Foundation of the Church of the Gesu in University Heights, Chandice said.
She said this year’s trip consisted of about 30 medical providers of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and dentists traveling to Honduras to complete medical/dental brigades in remote villages that do not have access or have limited access to medical/dental care. Dr. Mike Skerl of University Heights and Chandice provided dental care, which was limited to tooth extractions.
Along with medical providers, non-medical providers volunteered their time and efforts on a construction project, which involved rebuilding a water pump house for the village of Nuevo Paraiso.
McKoy was able to participate in both the construction project and medical brigades, she said.
During their stay, the volunteers are housed at the Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos compound in Nuevo Paraiso. SAN is an orphanage for at-risk Honduran children who have been abandoned, orphaned, homeless, or witnessed horrific violence. Currently there are about 200 children living at SAN, which 51 of them are boys.
“As McKoy prepared for this mission trip, we wanted him to connect to the children, especially the teenage boys, living at the orphanage. He decided to initiate a Sports Jersey Drive in which he would collect sports jerseys, shirts, and hats of our favorite American sports teams. These items would be given to the teenage boys of Sociedad,” Chandice said.
McKoy used Facebook by creating a group page and hung flyers on the walls of Perry Middle School and Perry High School.
The support was a huge success. He collected items during the month of January and received items from the Perry Community, family friends, Kenston High School’s Athletic Department, Coach Downing formerly of the Tennessee Titans, and the New York Jets, Chandice said.
As a result of the generous donations, McKoy was able to fill two full suitcases weighing just under 100 pounds; his original goal was one suitcase, but due to the overwhelming generosity, it allowed him to double his goal.
The director of donations of Sociedad, Mae Valenzuela, was able to package 51 bags. Not only did the teenage boys receive a gift bag, but every boy at the orphanage. She plans on distributing the remaining items on an individual basis to the boys as needs arise.
McKoy was able to hand deliver the bags to the boys of the Santiago House, one of the homes at SAN. It was an incredible moment.
The boys were so grateful and happy. They gave McKoy hugs and chanted his name. McKoy wanted to bring love from the USA to these boys, and he definitely did that, Chandice said.