What is your goal?

I want to raise $200,000 in the next 2 years to build a dormitory and recreational facility in Juarez, Mexico. 

Why are you taking this challenge?

By age 13, I had gone through a failed adoption and lived in 6 orphanages. Some of the orphanages were okay, but most were very bad.  I was adopted and came to the US at age 14. I never want to forget where I come from and what it is like to be an orphan in Mexico.

That’s why I started Thunder Mission, a 501 ( c) (3), when I was 16. I started off talking to groups at local Phoenix high schools and before I knew it, I had dozens of people who wanted to come on trips to a Juarez orphanage. The teens got to experience life outside their own neighborhood and the kids in Mexico had a cool teen to look up to. They created friendships and learned about each other. 

Our groups grew, but we had to limit how many teens could come and how often we could come.  That’s because it’s hard to find safe, inexpensive places to stay in Juarez. We could stay across the border in El Paso, TX but that would mean taking 4 hours or more out of every day to cross and the kids would lose a lot of the interaction. Other groups like Habitat for Humanity and church missions have the same problem – no place to stay.

That’s when I made it my goal to buy a piece of property and build a dormitory and recreation area. My dream is to have a couple that watches the property and rents it out at a very reasonable price for groups when they are down in Juarez doing charitable work. There would be a recreation space with grass, trees, a pool and a basketball court.  That would be for the inner city orphanages (there are over 200) that have kids that can never go outside because the neighborhoods are so bad. They could camp and play outside once in a while.

So, that’s why I want to raise $200,000 in the next two years. I want to build a facility so the kids can expand their horizons beyond where they currently are.

What strategies do you have to hit your goal?

I am networking with successful businesses to get them involved in the project. I want to promote my ideas to people who are more powerful than I am. 

What would happen in the next two years that would exceed all of your expectations?

My dream would be to raise $1 million so that we can expand what we do with the building. It will be a better facility with more options. I want to add a school and training area so that the orphans have a chance at a future that is more than just working in a factory for $1 a day.