Classes earn money to buy candy for Tijuana orphans

The students launched a project to aid children in a Tijuana orphanage.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATON WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A group of 60 Youngstown Christian School students went out of their way to make this Christmas memorable for a group of orphans in Mexico.

In just a week, they raised $500 in cash, created Christmas cards in Spanish and bought candy to send to 80 children in an orphanage in Tijuana.

The students are in Spanish 1, 2 and 3 classes taught by Carol Vitelli.

Vitelli, in her first year at Youngstown Christian, said she approached her students with the “Eagles In a Mission” project as an opportunity “to share the love of God.” Christmas is all about giving and she wanted them to really understand that concept, she said.

She chose The Purple Palace, an orphanage originally opened in a big, empty warehouse in the heart of the Red Light district of Tijuana in 2001 by Tyler and Connie Youngkin. The Youngkins left San Diego in 1999 to become volunteers with Children of Promise, an international, nonprofit orphanage organization. They spent two years working and studying Spanish in Costa Rica before opening the orphanage in Tijuana.

They are the founders of the Youngkin Mission, which has a mailing address in Centerville, Ohio.

The response from her students was immediate, Vitelli said.

“They were so excited about it,” she said, adding that each student was asked to come up with $10, money they had to earn in some fashion.

Some raked leaves, others did baby-sitting or dog walking and some cleaned houses and their churches. Some got the money individually and some formed teams, Vitelli said, adding that it took only a week to raise $500.

“I thought it was a good idea,” said Julia Brookhart, a sophomore from Canfield. She pointed out that she has participated in church mission trips to Mexico to build houses and has seen the need there.

Siobhan Brown, a sophomore from Hubbard, said she liked the concept because it lets the children in the orphanage know that “someone cares about them.”

Josh Donlon, an Austintown sophomore, donated money from his paycheck from a job he has to the cause.

He thought it was neat that a small class in Youngstown could do so much and send so much to children in another country.

The kids are learning to give because God gave us his only Son, for forgiveness of our sins, Vitelli said.

“In return, we get to demonstrate that love through service and giving,” she said.

“I thought it was a great cause,” said Kelli NcNeal, explaining her enthusiasm for the project proposed by Vitelli.

“I would do it again tomorrow if she asked me,” the sophomore from Salem said.

“We got a lot of money, so I think it worked out really well,” added Sophia Yargo, a sophomore from Campbell who said she helped clean her church to raise money. “It was a really great idea.”

Dante Yanno, a junior from Youngstown who works occasionally for a landscape company, said he took money from his paycheck for the project and was pleased it will be going to a good cause.

It felt good to help other children who are less fortunate, he said.

gwin@vindy.com