Paying It Forward in Mexico

An opportunity to go to Mexico and give back came up out of nowhere so we grabbed it with both hands. A bit crazy given that we hadn’t planned for this at all.

2020 was full of ups and downs. Our giveback in Mexico sums up the year pretty well.

Throughout 2020 we had 3 school supplies delivery trips that we had to cancel in different parts of the world due to travel restrictions. Towards the very end of the year, an opportunity to travel to Mexico for a giveback came up out of nowhere so we grabbed it with both hands. A bit crazy given that we hadn’t planned for this at all.

This trip would be different from any other that we’ve done before. Not only because it was a super last-minute decision to do but we had no funds set aside for the giveback. The funds we did have for the year had already been allocated to the project we had to postpone and we would be heading in blindly without the relationships in the country we would usually build up with contacts in schools and organizations. But we wanted to make sure that we continued to give back in every way possible that we could, especially in a year that highlighted the importance of helping one another out more than ever.

Which is where you guys came in, you were amazing! We took to Instagram to share this whole give back in real-time and fully fund the project in Mexico through your orders and your donations that came in while we were there.

We ended up being able to support all the kids in two different communities.

We spent some time with an orphanage that homes kids from across Mexico as Baja California has recently seen an influx of migrants from all over the country. Many of the kids had arrived from difficult backgrounds, where gang culture and drugs were rife. We were asked to protect the identity of many of the children we were able to work with there.

Super nice kids. We had a great time being able to hang out with these fun niños, play sports together and make sure they each got the school supplies they needed to get through schooling at home during this pandemic.

The kids in Mexico, like in many other parts of the world were schooling at home for the time being. This meant, however, that many of them weren’t able to get the guaranteed good meal of the day - their school lunch. So we also teamed up with some great people that help provide these kids with their school lunch by driving a bus around the village to deliver it. Literally meals on wheels! It was a great thing to be a part of, to be able to provide school supplies as well as school lunches.

A huge thank you for your continued support in what has been a difficult year for us all.

Without you and your incredible support, it would have been impossible to help these kids and to continue our mission to pay creativity forward and help as many kids as possible go to school.

Mexico is the 15th country we’ve delivered school supplies in, but we’re only just getting started!