A Few years ago we were home with nothing to do and wanted to get out for the day on a beautiful weekend. After a little talking we had decided to go to a local fast food establishment and buy a large amount of warm meals and drive around our city handing them out to our unhoused population. We had a great time talking to a lot of really amazing people and putting smiles on their faces. Since this day when we go grocery shopping or to grab things from the store if my daughter sees someone in need she asks if we have change, can buy them some food or will ask them what kind of things they need that we could maybe get them while we are inside.
Our mission and dream all started with a little girl wanting to swim with the dolphins for her 5th birthday. Being as young as she was she did not understand that we did not have anything like this locally. After a little research and much discussion we had planned a trip to Cuba. We had sat down with our daughter and explained in order to swim with the dolphins we would need to do something nice in return as it was a bit of money to make her wish come true.
After some research we had found a local organization who sends much needed medical supplies to countries in need through people travelling abroad. After agreeing this was a good thing to look into we reached out to Not Just Tourists and agreed to take 2 suitcases full of supplies to a pediatric clinic in Holguin, Cuba.
After some more research we had found that many locals lack basic necessities such as food, baby items, clothing, educational toys, feminine hygiene products and much more that we take for granted in our everyday life. We had reached out to our friends and family asking for support. We had many people reach out to us wanting and willing to help. We were able to take all monetary gifts and purchase the much needed items here locally in Canada. We were even fortunate enough to tell our story to some local businesses who offered us support by donating items or providing discounts for bulk purchases. We were able to take everything we had gathered down to Cuba where we took a horse and buggy to the local farming village and handed out all the supplies to the very thankful local recipients. During this trip we were also able to deliver the medical supplies to the very thankful local pediatric doctor.
For Christmas that same year this little girl told Santa that all she wanted for Christmas was to go back to Cuba and help the people in need. She had told him her story about her birthday and how sad it made her feel that people are living in a very nice place like Cuba but don't have stuff she gets to have everyday. That afternoon our research started again and we had penned a plan to make this little girls wish come true. This time we had a few more family members join us to experience first hand the love that this little girl holds dear to her heart.
This time we had decided to go to Cayo Guillermo, Cuba and through our research we had learnt that the people of Moron, Cuba were in much need of basic supplies. During our research we were able to find a local family which we had become good friends with and decided to sponsor while embarking on this project. This family consisted of a Single mother, 2 children and the ladies 2 aging parents. Through many conversations we had asked the whole family what it is they are in need of that we can bring from Canada. The answer from all was constantly unanimous. FOOD “Please just bring us some food”. Even with explaining to the young children that we will bring food and asking them a few times what else they would like from Canada they had said some kind of toy or game. The young boy had said that he has always wanted a Rubik's Cube but knew they were very expensive and over and over said he would rather us bring some food as his stomach hurt daily and that food was more important for the whole family. The young girl had just kept asking us to bring food for the whole family during every conversation. We were able to purchase some much needed hygiene products and basic supplies for the family as well as over 100 pounds of non perishable food.
In order to deliver these items we had to take a taxi from where we were staying in Cayo Guillermo to Moron which was approximately 90 minutes travel one way. We had spent some time with the family where they made us a very beautiful traditional cuban meal and showed us around. While there we had taken a horse and buggy around the area where we had handed out some much needed supplies and items to the very thankful locals. Every single person we had come into contact with were so grateful for the support we were giving and they had all said the same thing “because they were not close to the tourist areas it was not often that they had stuff like this happen.” While here many of the people that we had helped and supported showed us their gratitude by giving us handmade items as a thanks and appreciation.
After we had arrived back in Canada this little girl was full of stories and memories that she wanted to share with anyone willing to listen. A lot of people have expressed their amazement that such a young child is so generous and is willing to put others needs first. She has mentioned many times since our return that every time she travels through her life she wants to find people in need and give back for allowing her to enjoy the beauty of their land that they call home.
Now that brings us to “Heart and Soul Project”. I have spoken to many people who have shown interest in helping build the project as well as people who whole heartedly support this little girl's dream. We are now bonding together to build a loving and caring team which will allow us to make this little girls vision come true for many years to come.
The cost of our trips and transportation will be solely covered by us allowing 100% of your donations to go into each and every planned project that we do. We will be setting a plan in place for each project and letting everyone know on our platforms where the current donations will be used. This will allow everyone the opportunity to decided where specifically their donations are dispersed throughout the year.
