We Couldn't do it without Them! A "Thank You!" to our Supporters

By: Megan Hettwer

Simply put, the generosity and selflessness of people can be amazing. The continuous outpouring of support that Abriendo Mentes has received from the community of Potrero, and from around the world, is truly inspirational. Today we wanted to take a moment to recognize and thank the many groups and individuals who have recently donated supplies, time and other resources to help advance our mission. Abriendo Mentes wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is today without the benevolence that these wonderful people have shown us.

Terry, Ava, Dylan, Chloe and Chantel Romanow visit Potrero.

On February 14th and 15th we welcomed the Romanow family to our classes. Terry, Chantel, Dylan, Chloe and Ava ventured to Potrero all the way from Canada! In July 2010 Terry and his family generously donated to us the use of their office space in the Casa del Sol complex. It's been wonderful to have a space to house all of our supplies and teaching materials. Speaking of supplies, the Romanows also brought two HUGE suitcases filled with school supplies. Thankfully we have the office to store everything!

Two suitcases of supplies from the Romanows spread out over the office floor!

Just when we thought that things couldn't possibly get any better, AM received yet another supplies surprise. Matt and Natasha Craig, owners of Point Break Surf, have been organizing an outreach program to help the communities of Brasilito, Flamingo and Potrero, and their current program is geared toward helping Abriendo Mentes. They worked with Pastor Patricia Covington, whose congregations in Virginia donated FOUR massive suitcases of school and art supplies to us. The students were absolutely delighted when Meradith revealed the contents of the bag to them. Take a look at this short video to see just how elated they were, and don't forget to check out the Point Break Surf outreach mission!

http://www.pointbreaksurf.com/site/outreach/

Since we had such a myriad of resources, we also wanted to "pay it forward" to the local Potrero school, and so Abriendo Mentes donated supply packets to each of the four classrooms. These packets included folders, notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, geometry sets, crayons and colored pencils for the students to use in class. This has created a new partnership with the school, where they feel comfortable asking us for any supplies that they might need.

Some of the supplies from the Point Break Outreach program that AM donated to the Potrero School.

We've been extremely lucky to have so much donated to us this year, and being able to share everything that we have received has allowed us to continue moving toward our mission of enhancing education awareness, increasing education opportunities, and empowering students within Playa Potrero.