For the Love of Mateo Inc

Hi all! My name is Kerrin Russo and in the summer of 2022 I had the pleasure of embarking on a three-week service trip at an amazing after-school program in San Antonio Aguas Calientes in Guatemala called "Niños con Bendición"! This organization provides sponsorships for kids in Guatemala to attend a local school, as well as giving them extra educational support following their normal school hours. The sponsorship covers costs for the children's school expenses, school supplies, and money for food for them and their guardians. This after-program solely runs off of annual sponsorships for the kids, who all come from impoverished homes. At the school, I was able to connect with the kids through various activities and help them with their homework.

A new "Niños con Bendición" after-school program is just forming in the town of San Juan la Laguna (in Lake Atitlan), which is about two hours from San Antonio Aguas Calientes. This program currently has two kids in it and we are looking to raise sponsorships for three new kids (photos and a description of each of them are below) to be able to join. Our goal is to raise money to provide sponsorships for these new three kids, which would include their school supplies and education needs. Further, we would like to raise money to cover the grocery costs for all five kids and their families. They all struggle to afford the bare necessities therefore having enough money to pay for food every month is extremely important. Out of the five kids, two of them (the ones that already have sponsorships) are sisters who live with guardians in a shelter. The other three live with their families but are also in lower-income situations.

Every dollar counts! We are looking to raise $4,000 if possible! Sponsorships for each of the three kids are $400 each which would total $1,200 and groceries for everyone would be about $2,800. This would total to the $4,000 goal. The money from this fundraiser will go to a nonprofit organization in the United States called “For the Love of Mateo” which is run by Valerie Edwards. “For the Love of Mateo” is a registered 501c(3) nonprofit organization that partnered with “Niños con Bendición”. I will be having the money donated to this organization since they are a registered 501c(3) organization in the United States, and therefore is connected to GoFundMe. Since this organization is connected to Niños con Bendición, Valerie will be transferring the money from “For the Love of Mateo” to “Niños con Bendición” after the fundraiser is complete.

Further, here is a link to the website for the organizations "Niños con Bendición" and "For the Love of Mateo" so you can learn more about their mission and story:

https://www.fortheloveofmateo.com/ninosconbendicion

I posted several photos below of the kids. First, I provided photos of the five kids who will need sponsorships and money for food at the new after-school program in San Juan Laguna and gave a brief description on each. Then, I provided a few photos of my time volunteering at “Niños con Bendición” during the summer of 2022.

I will be posting updates to this fundraising page and on my social media accounts so you can see the progress of what your money is going towards as the fundraiser goes on! Thank you all so much!!!!

1) Photos of the Five Kids who need Sponsorships:

Photos of each of the three Kids who will hopefully be able to join the Program and will need Sponsorships for both Education and Food per Month:

(The money for food will go towards them and each of their families)

María Estefani who is 10 years old:

Marcos Eligio who is 6 years old:

Fabiola Nohemi who is 6 years old:

Photo of the 2 Girls who are already in the Program and will just need Sponsorship Money for Food:

Amanda María who is 10 years old and Eliot Mishel who is 7 years old:

(These two girls are sisters and are living with guardians in a shelter so would really need the help for food!)

2) Photos of me with the Kids during my time volunteering at the Niños con Bendición in San Antonio Aguas Calientes: