Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez is making headlines in regards to the rash of drug-related crime and killings there, but the story of the city’s widows and orphans often goes untold.
Collegedale resident Maria Mendez, far left, and her friend for whom she cares, Marion Merchant, center in the wheelchair, visit Juarez, Mexico to help women in shelters and orphaned children as often as they can visit.Collegedale’s Maria Mendez travels there often to help women and children in need, and will be at the local Imagination Station pavilion May 14 and 21 from 6-9 p.m. accepting donations of clothing, school supplies, book bags, toys and shoes to take on her next trip this June.
“Eight thousand, five hundred newly orphaned children in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across from El Paso, Texas, have suffered terrible loss of their parents and homes and hope as a result of the drug war,” said Mendez. “We would like people to help us collect items to take to them. I pray that people will want to come and help. I want to bring attention to what is going on. I want somebody to do something to help them.”
Her friend Marion Merchant and granddaughters Jasmine and Gracie, who are both fifth-grade students at Spalding Elementary School in Collegedale, join her on her annual trips.
Mendez said she went to live near Ciudad Juarez for 16 months from 2005-2006 in order to feed children and distribute school supplies on a regular basis. She also visited the city in 2002 and 2003 to help people.