8/5/2010 Quietly preparing....
Don't think we've stopped collecting and
distributing donations to the kids. At this very moment we have Nancy
locked in a room where she is diligently sorting toys and loading
backpacks with school supplies in anticipation of the "back-to-school"
events that start later this month here in Cancun. Be sure to remind all
of your friends who are planning a trip to the area to make some room
for the kids and we'll make sure that their contributions go to good
use. We'll be adding to
our photo gallery once we start handing
out the school supplies so be sure to check back!
6/8/2010 Outstanding supporters!
Nancy has been in contact with one of our
outstanding supporters who will be making an effort in her area to
gather support for Give a Toy, Get a Smile. Below is an excerpt from
their conversations;
" Nancy,
Good morning,
I wanted to let you know that on June 25th I
will be appearing on a very popular local bi-lingual television show
here in the Boston area it is called El show de Fernadito. Here is the
website
http://www.elshowdefernandito.com.
I will be promoting Give at Toy Get a Smile and
talking about how traveling to
Mexico and being a
part of the Playa del
Carmen community has touched me in a way that I want to give back
to Playa del Carmen and its citizens and children.
Your website will be run during the show and I
hope it will help with donations. I am honored to be working with you
and cant wait to see you at Christmas time. Thank you for allowing me
to take on your organization as my platform.
For the past 15 years the citizens of Playa Del
Carmen have welcomed me and kept me safe and for the past 4 years
the employees at the Reef Club Playa have treated my husband and I like
family.
I have some other events in the works as well.
I am working with a local
Latin radio Station
La Nueva Mega 890 and 1400. Cuban singer Pitbull will be in our area on
June 23rd and we are trying to (possibly) set something up with him.
I am also setting up an appearance with a
nightclub called Mojitos Boston in which they will give a donation to
Give at Toy Get a Smile in return for my appearance.
I also have a charity event set up for July
23rd. Carla' Cuban Cocktails and Couture. I have had many donations so
far and I am very excited.
Talk to you soon.
Carla Orta
Ms. International 2010 "Needless
to say we are VERY appreciative of supporters such as Mrs. Orta who go
above and beyond to get the word out about Give at
Toy, Get a Smile and our efforts to bring smiles to the faces of the
less fortunate children in the area. With your help we can make 2010 the
best year yet for the kids!
4/24/2010 Update from Nancy.
I
want to thank the
BLUE PEARL
SUITES in
Playa del Carmen for the wonderful drop-off of clothing, toys,
shoes and
back packs and
school supplies. We found many wonderful things stuffed into the
backpacks. We are relieved to get more backpacks and school supplies, since
tourism has been a bit slow in Cancun and the Maya Riviera, and, as a
result, our collections have been a bit lower so far this year...but we're
doing great! As long as we collect smiles along the way, we have
accomplished our task!
Thank you to the wonderful people that dropped off toys in Playa at the Blue
Pearl Suites and thanks again, BLUE PEARL SUITES, for helping me to collect
toys and for the drop-off. I appreciate your time and effort and for the
golden hearts you have for helping the children in the Maya Riviera and
Cancun!
3/31/2010 New Photos!
We've added almost 200 new pictures to
our Photobucket Album including a trip
to the local hospital, the Isla Blanca "Let'sFlyKites" event and other
distributions.
2/24/10 Still going! An update from our
founder Nancy...
We are still distributing toys to the kids. This weekend, February 27th
and 28th, 'LetsFlyKites' is joining us at Isla Blanca. Saturday, the
children from The Little Yellow Schoolhouse in Isla Mujeres will be
there and Sunday, the kids from La Casita will be there. The wonderful
people from 'Let'sFlyKites'
will be showing them how to fly professional kites. There will be a
small workshop for the kids to make their own kites. 'LetsFlyKites' is
also going to be donating lunch for the kids. Give A Toy Get A Smile
provides small toys for the kids after the days activities are over.
It promises to be a fun and exciting day for everyone that attends. Isla
Blanca is a beautiful, undisturbed beach, much like
Cancun was 30 years
ago. If you're coming to Cancun, try to get out there for the day's
celebration! I will be there Sunday helping out.
On another note, we are slowly approaching
Children's
Day in Mexico.
April 30th we celebrate children. We go to the children in the Centro de
Atencion Multiple...the children with autism, Down's Syndrome,
Cerebral Palsy and other severe problems. They LOVE
matchbox cars,
baby dolls, wooden puzzles (for fine
motor coordination) Shape Balls (fisher
Price and
Playskool make them...also for fine motor coordination). We are
in very short supply of these things and it would be a BIG help if we
could collect them before the holiday. If you happen to be coming to
Cancun by April 30th, pack an item or two in your suitcase...the KIDS
really appreciate it!
2/5/10 2009 Another Great Year For Give A
Toy Get A Smile!
Despite a year fought with setbacks
ranging from a down economy to health scares, thanks to our outstanding
supporters, Give A Toy, Get A Smile was again able to collect an
impressive assortment of toys, school supplies, and other items for the
kids during 2009. We are all very humbled by the great showing of
support that we have seen this year. From our Gold Star supporters, who
make generous donations year after year, to little Ms. Samantha Fuhrerv,
who encouraged her 1st and 2nd grade classmates to collect donations for
the children of Cancun, ALL OF YOU have played a part in making the
lives of the less fortunate in Cancun a little brighter and for that we
say THANK YOU!
We’re confident going into 2010 that we
will have another great year and have already begun shifting our focus
to Mexico’s Children’s Day. With your continued support we hope to make
2010 the best year yet!
2/1/10 Still Going!
Below is a message from Nancy detailing
her most recent outing to distribute toys to the kids.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going to Hospital General with Ryan and
Sonia Louisa, their boys, Giovanni and Carmine and Ryan's parents. Even
though the rain was up to our knees, we waded over to the Hospital to
give out toys to the kids. We were so lucky to receive smiles in both
directions...the kids gave out the toys and received smiles as well as
having many of their own! We were lucky to find that there weren't many
children there, which means a lot of healthy children. We gave out quite
a few
stuffed animals and
left there with a lot of happiness and gratification! It's always great
to see Ryan and his family and thanks again Ryan for donating all the
toys to the kids again this visit!
1/27/10 Pictures Updated!
We've just uploaded well
over 200 pictures showing some of our Christmas and Three Kings Day
activites. Nancy has been hard at work spreading the smiles. As always,
none of this would be possible without our wonderful supporters! Have a
look at
our Photobucket Album and see some of
the smiles that you have all helped to create with your contributions.
1/8/10 Busy. Busy. Busy!
Below is a short update
from our founder Nancy.
Well, Andy
and I have been pretty busy, wrapping, organizing, making lists and
labels for all the kids we saw during the Christmas Holidays. We go to
the children at "Learning
to Live with
AIDS and
HIV" on the 16th of January and the Francisco May Pueblo after
that. We also have 2 smaller pueblos we visit. I have to go back to NY
for a quick post radiation recall but I will be back on the 13th to get
the rest of the toys out to the kids. Too many kids, too little time!
Santa is lucky that his job is over come Three King's Day! I will be
back to let you all know how everything is going! Nancy
12/28/09 Toys are going
out!
Nancy has been
working feverishly to create as many smiles this Christmas Season as she
possibly can. We've updated our
donations count to reflect the contributions that have come in over
the last few months, and we'll be uploading new pictures to
our Photobucket Album as soon as we can. Below
is a message from our founder Nancy.
We have already visited the School for Children with Exceptional Needs, the
Little Yellow Schoolhouse on Isla Mujeres and the Hospital General Christmas
Day. We have dates with the Learning to Live with AIDS and HIV kids and the kids
from the Francisco May Pueblo and other small Pueblos out in the Jungle. These
distributions will take place from now through the month of January. The
children we saw were so excited to see Santa Claus and to hear their names
called to come up and receive their presents. Sweet words, like "I love you
Santa", "Thanks Santa, I am happy you gave me a toy" "Thank you for bringing my
brother a toy too Santa" were just a few phrases that make your hearts open up!
The smiles we get are getting better and better...The Little Yellow Schoolhouse
on Isla Mujeres also received a bunch of reading books for the children and
school supplies...pencils, colored pencils, crayons, etc.
I
am busy wrapping presents and making sure each one has the name of the child it
belongs to. It is so important not to leave anyone out and you can see the pride
in the eyes of each child when they know that Santa thought of them...they got a
present PERSONALLY from him! We are happy to be able to help all of these
children which NEVER would have been possible without all the support I have
received...NurseinLA, Selluacaddy, Jerry, Dangers, Peter, RLouisa, Jon, Pilar
(thank you for your amazing donation! The toys were out of this world GREAT!),
really to everyone that helped us out this year. It was a tough year,
economically for many and the extra toys really have made a difference.
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and I look forward to ringing in 2010
wishing all of you wonderful people the best of health, happiness and family!
Love to all...Nancy
12/13/09 Let the
Distributions Begin!
Our 2009 Christmas and Three Kings Days toy distributions are about to
begin! Be sure to check
our PhotoBucket gallery for all of the
new pictures which we will be adding soon. Nancy is busy wrapping and
counting all of the donations that arrived while she was away and has a
message to all of our great supporters below;
Hello to everyone and thank you for all of your support and kind wishes
over the past 6 months. I have returned from New York and I am happily
settling back into life in Cancun. I have my work cut out for me now.
Many people have left hundreds of items...toys, books, shoes, school
supplies, etc., for the kids and I am slowly going through everything,
counting and collecting names to add to our website page. If you don't
see your name, please let me know (give_a_toy@yahoo.com), and I will be
happy to add your name to our supporterīs list. I have been a bit
back-logged, due to my unforeseen trip to NY, and I am doing the best I
can to categorize, count and wrap all of the presents (approximately
700) we've received. The kindness and generosity of the tourists
visiting Cancun will be so apparent this Christmas with the smiles on
the faces of the children.
I was thrilled to be able to return in time to see NurseinLA,
Selluacaddy and BeachBum, ZsaZsa and to receive toys from BigRon. Thanks
for your continued support and for lovingly choosing the beautiful
things you brought for my kids. We only got to spend a short time
together but we had a fantastic afternoon (as I always do with these
folks)! Canīt wait for your next trip into Cancun!
Again, BIG thank youīs to everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful
Holiday Season and a Happy and Healthy New Year. You are all in my heart
and I canīt thank you enough for thinking of the kids in the Yucatan
during the Christmas Season...you make a BIG difference!
Nancy Claus
11/24/09 Happy
Thanksgiving and a message from Nancy.
To all of our GREAT supporters, we're still moving along towards a BIG
Christmas distribution. This year has been a difficult one for a number
of reasons, but we have a HUGE stockpile of donations waiting to be
handed out to all of the less fortunate children in the area upon
Nancy's return to Cancun. She's also promised to diligently count and
categorize all of the donations that have come in during her absence so
that we can update our 2009 collections count and list of supporters. So
without further ado, here is a message from our founder Nancy;
Hello from chilly NY...although the weather has really not been so bad.
Mother Nature has been
pretty kind.
I am
half way through my treatments and complete them on the 8th of December. I
am scheduled to be back in Cancun by the 12th. I know that my elves have
been happily collecting the toys that everyone brought in while I am gone.
To them and to you, I greatly appreciate it!
I am
sooo looking forward to getting back to Cancun and getting on with my life
and enjoying the holidays with the kids. If you will be in Cancun after the
15th of December through the 6th of January, contact me and join us in
giving out the toys for the holidays. It always adds something special to
the Mexican experience...Have a great Thanksgiving...Nancy
9/8/09 HUGE dontation from
the Kraftor Family!
Once again our great supporters have come through in a big way. Holly,
Dennis, & Lizz Kraftor, with the help of Lynn Turnbow, Simone
Twenter, Matt Perrigo, and the owners of the Tiger Spirit Store; Steve & Michelle
Dillard, delivered a HUGE selection of books, clothing, and toys for the
kids!!! We can't express our appreciation enough for all of our great
supporters who keep impressing us year after year with their generous
donations. We are sure to get a lot of smiles this year once we start to
distribute these great gifts!
8/28/09
Announcement from our founder Nancy.
As our loyal supporters may have already heard, we've been forced to
take a short break from our distribution efforts. Below is a message
from our founder Nancy.
On behalf
of Give A Toy Get A Smile and all the children that this has benefited, I
would like to thank all the wonderful people that have made our toy,
clothing, and school supply distributions possible. This has been a rough
year for the people of Cancun...swine flu paranoia really ground tourism to
a complete halt. It might not be as good a year as years past, but we will
still be able to give out many things to help the children here.
In
the past, it was our pleasure to take our supporters out with us to see the
children. Unfortunately, I am unable to do this at this time due to health
issues that must be addressed. I will be going back to the US until November
to take care of these issues.
Hard Rock Cafe and the other drop off sites will still be collecting
toys and things for the children, so please try to remember to pack a little
something extra on your trip to Cancun. Once I am back, I will be able to
continue the pleasure of giving out toys to the children in order to get
them to SMILE! Thanks again for all your support, Nancy
6/21/09
Huge Photo Update!
We've added over 300 pictures to
our Photobucket Album of Nancy's
activities over the past few months. Have a look and see your donations
bringing smiles to the children of the area!
6/17/09
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU!
To the Bleyl Family...Traci and Rob, Taylor, Kennedy, Madison and Carter
for helping Adrian complete his Eagle Boy Scout Badge by collecting
school supplies for the kids here in the Yucatan. We got over 2,000
items for the kids...these will be distributed to the children in the
Village Francisco May in August for school. Besides the school supplies
and books, they brought clothing and shoes for the villagers and, within
minutes, everything was gone. We drove to the village in a
torrential downpour
and I could not stop thinking how all of this would be "rained out". I
knew the kids would not be coming out to see us if it was pouring out.
Winds were really kicking out and I really had a bad feeling in my
stomach. As we drove up to the village, the rain decreased to a drizzle
and by the time we got out of the van and announced to a few kids why we
were there, the sun had come out. It wasn't long before all the children
in the villages along the road came
running down the road
to see what we had brought. Everyone went home with a handful of
stuff...clothing, shoes and a toy. Happy faces all around!
6/03/09
Great Supporters!
We got an UNBELIEVABLE drop off form a long time and wonderful
supporter, Ryan Louisa. He came down for a few days of R & R with his
son. I know how much he looked forward to just "getting away from it
all" but he still thought of the kids in a REALLY BIG way! We got 97
toys, 4 school supplies,
8 beauty items and 1 clothing. Ryan and Sonia Louisa have really been
wonderful to the kids...thanks so much for your constant support!
4/29/09 Important
Update From Nancy!
Due to
the medical concerns (relating to the "Swine Flu") and for the safety of our
donators, staff, and children, we have suspended toy distributions until
May 15th.
We continue to collect
toys at our drop-off sites, for those of you visiting Cancun. We hope to
continue giving out toys and to continue collecting smiles from the kids.
I recently found out that the Village Francisco
May that we have been supporting, suffered serious damages in the last few
weeks, due to forest fires in the jungle outside
Cancun. One of the schoolhouses burned down as well as several
Palapa homes. The children and villagers will certainly need a little moral
support, school supplies, etc. once Cancun is back on it's feet.
Also, the pictures of the soccer teams are Team Brasil, a wonderful group of
young, enthusiastic Mexican boys that received uniforms from an anonymous
donor from Canada. He left me 2 large duffle bags full of used equipment. We
have SO MANY groups of children that would LOVE to wear a uniform. The Coach
of the team told me they made it all the way to the finals because they were
so proud of their uniforms. If anybody out there knows of a team that is
buying new uniforms and wants to donate their old ones to Cancun.....we
would LOVE IT!
Thanks for everyone's support and good wishes...Nancy
4/20/09 April
Activities!
Below Nancy details some of April's distributions.
We went
out
Easter Sunday to the Hospital General. We gave out
Easter Bunnies and
coloring books and crayons to the kids inside and
beanie babies to the kids around the hospital. Well, we collected
SMILES from everyone in the Hospital, kids, parents even STAFF!
We went
out yesterday to 2 jungle villages with 2 tourists from Oklahoma. We gave
out Beanie Babies (we received 1,200 as a donation) and coloring books and
crayons. The kids were so happy! Moms and dads and neighbors were all
standing around with big smiles on their faces. We were invited in to one
house for something to eat and another man wanted to give Jennifer (one of
the girls) bags for plants. She was so happy to get them she gave him $50
pesos. Everyone laughed because that was WAY TOO MUCH money but she handed
it back to him with a THANK YOU and a SMILE and everyone left really happy!
Then we
went to
Puerto Juarez, a beach community and gave out 4 sand toy sets to the
kids there. We randomly walked over to the kids (cause we only had 4 sets)
and gave it to the ones that looked like they didn't have any sand toys to
play with. They were thrilled, as were the
moms and dads!
We have a
lot of work this month because the 30th is
Children's Day. We have
started to give out toys and will continue through the middle of May. We
have at least 4 or 5 more schools or orphanages that we will see as well.
3/4/09 March Wrap Up!
Below is a message from our founder Nancy, detailing her activites
durning the past month. We've also uploaded a number of new pictures to
our Photobucket album, and will be
putting up more as time goes on.
March has been a very busy
month for Give A Toy. I have been organizing, categorizing and boxing all
the toys left over from the holidays and donated since.
We also had the
opportunity to go out and visit the Francisco May Pueblo with Ryan and Sonia
Louisa, Brian and Allison Porembski, Jelaine Foster and Tara Montana. Ryan
and Brian rented a taxi, and off we went with the trunks of both cars LOADED
with toys.
We arrived at the school
and all the children came running down the street, they all know my car by
now. We had the children line up (which never worked...we were SWAMPED!) and
gave each one a small present. We got a smile form everyone...mom, dads,
grandmas and grandpas included! We gave out all the toys while Jelaine and
Tara snapped pictures of all the
happy faces. We only
had large cardboard boxes left and even those were taken....they are not an
easy item to find in the middle of the jungle!
After about an hour, a
young lady named Fiona came up to me and introduced herself. She is a
representative of
Save the Children
Mexico and personally thanked me for supporting the kids in the
village. I told her that if she needs anything for the kids, to contact me.
She told me that the kids have an after-school
arts and crafts program
and that, right now, they were doing their projects on the floor on pieces
of cardboard.
Ryan and Brian put their hands in their pockets and came out with a load
of pesos, handed then to me and said "Buy the tables and chairs!". Voila!
As we said our good-byes,
we all felt those warm fuzzies that everyone feels when they help. We headed
back to Cancun and, of course, stopped for a Mexican dinner in a local
restaurant to show our new friends how the REAL Mexicans eat. It was a
wonderful day and a very memorable experience!
Fiona contacted me the
following week and off to
Walmart we went. We bought 21 chairs and 7 tables and sent Fiona back
to Francisco May. Thanks to Walmart for the discount, Ryan and Sonia and
Brian and Allison for making these tables and chairs a possibility.
The following week, I
received a Thank You letter from Save the Children for helping the children
in the Pueblo, I also got a personal thank you drawn by one of the kids,
that said, thank you for your support. How sweet!
I would also like to thank
Nancy Wilson at
Needful Things for collecting 5 sets of encyclopedias for the kids.
Three sets have been donated to La Casita and the other 2 will be going out
to the Francisco May Pueblo.
I look forward to
celebrating
Easter Sunday at the
General Hospital, where we will be giving out bunnies to all the
children and
coloring books and crayons. We have several events planned to
celebrate
Children's Day throughout April and May. Please check back and see
the pictures and write-ups for April.
2/24/09 2009 Efforts
are Underway! We're into our 2009 collection efforts as of this
update. The 2008 totals and contributors have been archived and can be
found at the links below, as well as on our home page, by clicking the
year you wish to view. We are also archiving all of the "News & Photos"
updates before 2009.
Click here to view our
2006,
2007, and
2008 collection
totals!
Click here to view past news items that have been
archived.
2/24/09 Official 2008
Wrap Up from Nancy.
2008 was our best year yet! We were thrilled to be able to give out hundreds of
toys to the children in Cancún and the surrounding areas.
We visited the General Hospital
on Christmas Day with the Chih
Family....Yuchee, Alice, Edmond and Edwina, from
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and were able to collect many smiles from the
kids, moms, dads, nurses and doctors!
We
celebrated Christmas with the children from Niņos Excepcionales…children with
severe handicaps, autism, Down’s Syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc. Santa Claus came
carrying bags of toys for all the children. To see the smiles on the kids faces,
and to appreciate how hard they struggled to get up to where Santa was to
receive their toys was really heartfelt. Each child came up to Santa and got a
big hug to go with their toy. I can’t tell you how many of the parents came up
to me afterwards to thank me for all the presents. Everyone was told, as always,
that all the donations from our wonderful tourists visiting Cancun!
We
celebrated a beautiful little Posada with the children at The Little Yellow
School House on Isla Mujeres. First we walked through the streets around the
school and sang Christmas Carols. We went back to the school where some local
tourists dropped by and played Christmas Carols. We sang them in English, the
kids sang them in Spanish. The Christmas Spirit was with us throughout the
night!
Shelly Gulis and Howard Perkins from London, Ontario, Canada joined us in
celebrating Christmas at the “Aprendiendo a Vivir con Sida y HIV" Learning to
live with AIDS and HIV. I have been celebrating Christmas with these people for
5 years now and they are such wonderful people. Many of the families are
grandmas with 4 or 5 children….the parents have died or are too sick to take
care of them. One teenage girl came up to me as we were giving out the toys.
“Thank you” she said. “No one has ever cared as much as you do. You have come
here every year to give our children toys and for this, I thank you”. And she
kissed me. I was really touched! Poor Shelly and Howard left with tears in their
eyes and lots of love in their hearts!
We
celebrated Christmas with the children at El Hogar del Esperanza in Bonfil with
the Bleyl Family…Tracy, Rob, Taylor, Kennedy, Madison and Carter. from Utah. We
invited them along to enjoy our time with the children. Each of the children had
given me a wish list weeks before and we were able to fulfill all of their
wishes (one girl wanted a kitten but the Padre said no so we had to make a
substitute of an art set). A special thanks goes to my favorite Nurse in
LA….your love put a smile where there was once …no affect. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart! Each of the Bleyl children chose a gift and gave it to the
child whose name was on top. Everyone left with big smiles. The Bleyl’s donated
$1000usd in memory of their son, Tyler. The money will be put to good use
putting smiles on the faces of the children.
Our
Christmas also included a trip to the Francisco May Village about an hour into
the jungle outside of Cancun. 75 children received gift-wrapped gifts from Give
A Toy Get A Smile. Carlos, Charlie and Brianna Avila, a local Cancun family.
helped us to give out the toys while the parents waited and watched. Everyone
came over to thank me, once again, and once again, I told them how the tourists
that visit Cancun CARE! This is how they let the local people know.
One
last visit to the village of San Roman capped off our Christmas distribution. We
were able to visit the children we gave shoes to back in October, and bring them
each a new toy for Christmas. Several of the kids said Thank You in English,
with a big SMILE to show me that they knew English! Children were running down
the road showing off their new toys to their parents. We waved good-bye and off
we went, into the Christmas sunset, knowing that we got hundreds of smiles
between December 10th and January 5th. Thanks to ALL the
tourists and wonderful supporters that have helped to make 2008 a Christmas
Dream Come True!
1/17/09 Outstanding
2008! We've had yet another record breaking year,
bringing in well over 3000 donations along with over $5000 in financial
contributions! We’ll be putting up some final numbers in the next few
weeks on our Status Page,
and Nancy will be passing along some closing thoughts on the
distributions of donations. In addition, we will also be adding even
more pictures to
our Photo Album in the coming days.
We would also like to express our gratitude for the many articles
and stories written in support of Give a Toy Get a Smile during this
past year including the ones on;
Gadling.com,
MapChick.com,
HomeandAwayMagazine.com,
TripAdvisor.co.uk,
FamilyTravelNetwork.com,
CancunCanuck.com, and
Canada.com to name a few.
A GIANT ThankYou!!!
goes out to everyone who has been involved with us and helped to make Give a Toy
Get a Smile such a great success in 2008!
All previous news stories have been archived CLICK HERE.
