Although the Rio Grande Valley may be thousands of miles away from Haiti, 4th graders at La Encantada Elementary, feel a strong connection to the young victims on the island.
“The kids get excited about helping other people,” said Micah Gibbs a nurse at the school. “Which is the most amazing part to me, how little they have some of them, and how much they are willing to give even though they have so little."
Most of the students at this rural San Benito school are struggling themselves but that’s not stopping them from giving what they can.
“We had a little boy from kindergarten come and he donated 15 cents," said Gibbs.
Since last week, administrators set up a jar for students and staff to make donations to help those in Haiti and ever since the contributions have been dropping in.
For these 10 year-olds the images and video of the devastation in Port au Prince is hard to watch but for Paola Rivas it hits closer to home.
The 4th grader lost her brother and grandfather recently and told Action 4 News she knows how hard it is to lose a loved one.
Some, like 10 year old Mario Rodriguez, are so passionate about donating, he even offered to do extra chores at home for a bigger allowance.
“Wash cars and take out the trash, and mop the houses and clean up rooms" said Rodriguez.
That alone earned him 25 dollars which he generously donated to Haiti.
Mario is challenging everyone else to do the same.
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