Pls help Vanessa to have a Merry Christmas 2023

Hi. This is Jennifer Kardys-Delgado. As many of you are aware, I am a full-time law school student at the FIU College of Law in Miami, FL. As such...money is a little tight right now (although I am hoping, crossing fingers, that after I graduate law school in May of 2024, that in December 2024, I won't need to do a GoFundMe's at Christmas time anymore.)

So this Christmas 2023 GoFundMe is to help give a Christmas holiday to two distinct "branches" of families that I have helped out for the past couple of years at Christmas-time.

Before I begin, the kids in either the "Guatemalan branch" or the "Mexican branch" - they don't have any gifts to open, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Their parents simply can't afford to buy them gifts. Yes, the kids get some gifts from "Toys for Tots". I'm not sure if people realize this, but "Toys for Tots" limits the number of gifts the kids can get (at least in this part of Florida they do; it's usually one or two gifts). "Toys for Tots" also delivers the gift by December 15th (again, at least in this part of Florida they do).

So there is literally, NOTHING for these kids to open on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

So, I am hoping to spend between $25 - $35 dollars per child for Christmas. There's 10 kids in the "Guatemalan branch" and 3 kids in the "Mexican branch". That totals to between $325 - $455 for Christmas gifts, for 13 kids.

The "Guatemalan branch": this includes Vanessa and her siblings and their extended families. The "Mexican branch": this includes Janet, Alex and Jay and is not as big as the "Guatemalan branch".

The kids involved in the "Guatemalan branch" are:

Initially, everyone lived together in one house - because that was the only way they could meet the astronomical price of rent in Miami, FL. Their place is in a crime-ridden area of Homestead. I can't believe given the crime rate and how run down the place is, that the landlord can get away with charging what he does in rent. But he does.

Anyhow...

Around July 2023, the "Guatemalan branch" split in half and that other half moved to another house in Homestead. The "split" occurred because Cecilia was about to give birth to another baby, and I think some of the Guatemalans living in the original house were like, "Yeah - there's just way too many kids in this house."

Then in October 2023, the half that split, split off again, and then they went into another house, where there were already 5 adults (and everybody is related to everybody else).

So the "Guatemalan branch" split twice in 2023.

Why am I telling you all of this? Why does this even matter?

I'm mentioning this to explain the reason why in December 2023, I bought three artificial Christmas trees, three Christmas tree ornament sets, three sets of LED lights, three sets of things to store Christmas trees during the rest of the year, three Christmas wreaths for the outdoor door (actually, I had to buy 4 wreaths; last year, in January 2023, Cecilia, Vanessa's Mom, informed me that someone stole their Christmas wreath off of the front of their door, as well, as the garland/LED light trim that was around their front door), three Christmas tree skirts, three ornament toppers, and three Nativity sets.

The "Guatemalan branch" accounts for two of these three "Christmas sets" that I bought.

The "Mexican Branch" also split in half as well, and went from living in a house of 10 people, to living in two houses, one with 6 people and one with four people.

One of the "Christmas sets" is going to a family from the "Mexican branch".

The kids involved in the "Mexican branch" are:

So, to put it mildly, when buying all of these things - it adds up.

What I can tell you is as far as the "Guatemalan Branch" goes, nobody seems to have any furniture in their living rooms. Instead, older kids and young adults seem to sleep in sleeping bags on the living rooms.

Again, concerning the "Guatemalan Branch", I know for a fact, the younger kids don't have jackets or sweaters for when the weather turns colder. In the past, I've gone out to Goodwill or Salvation Army and bought them jackets and sweaters. I will probably do the same again this year (the kids are growing - they don't fit into the same things from year-to-year).

Here is my point:

Poverty sucks. And it doesn't magically go away after a year or two. It can take generations to try and dig out of.

These kids deserve to enjoy the Christmas season. Even for just a day, to get away from their.....rather dreary existence.

Hence: the buying of three artificial Christmas tree "sets" in December 2023.

Now, for the "Guatemalan branch", for Noche Buena (Christmas Eve), I would like to get for them, vaca frita, black beans, rice, salad, flan, and plantains from El Riconcito Latino in Kendall, FL. Added all together, that alone is $450.

I really need to get $450 into the GoFundMe as soon as possible, so I can put in the order for the food to El Riconcito Latino.

And I need to get some money into the GoFundMe, so I can start buying gifts for the younger kids (I have already bought gifts for the older kids; they're all set).

On Tuesday, December 18, 2023, I will upload into GoFundMe, the expenditures for the three sets of artificial Christmas trees, the three sets of ornaments - etc. I would be most appreciative of any assistance with these expenditures. Although I tried to go as cheap as possible, things add up. The three artificial Christmas trees alone was $192.57, even buying the artificial Christmas trees at Walmart.

I will update more of the GoFundMe on Tuesday, December 18, 2023.

Thank you!

Jennifer