PDG Jack Young confirmed that the previous Shoe Boxes which were on hold were recently released by the government. Of Nicaragua and distributed to the Children.

Young is preparing to make his 12th trip to Nicaragua to help the impoverished children of the Chinandega Dump* with support from the Rotary Clubs of Ohio District 6630 and Shoe Boxes for Children of Nicaragua.

Shoe boxes for the Children of the Dump in Chinandega, Nicaragua, are filled with personal care items, clothing, school supplies and age-appropriate games or toys.

Each year, Rotarians travel to Nicaragua to deliver and participate in the work being done there, as well as to help deliver supplies to the children. The recently filled shoe boxes will be delivered to an area collection facility, where they will be picked up and transported with other clubs' boxes to Nicaragua. Shoes boxes were filled for young boys and 20 for young girls. They contained items like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, comb, underwear, flip flops, one outfit of top and pants for girls or an outfit of shirt and pants or shorts for boys, a baseball cap, a doll and toys for girls and toys such as a yo-yo and matchbox cars for boys, card games, coloring book with crayons and markers, notebook, three pencils, pencil sharpener and a pocket folder.

The shoe boxes are used as incentive for children to remain in school. In order to receive one of the boxes, the child must be attending school on a regular basis and earning satisfactory grades. The goal is to break the cycle of poverty by providing food, education and programs to encourage good health. Rotarians said the ultimate goal is to relocate the children from the dump to a life of dignity.

*The Chinandega Dump began in 1998, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which dropped more than 60 inches of rain on the area. A 30-foot wall of water flowed down the volcano, picking up trees and boulders before smashing into a village, destroying everything in its path. Before the mudslide, the town had about 4,500 residents. Twenty-eight hundred remain buried from the disaster. They estimate that there are 800 children aged 5 or younger in Chinandega who are fending for themselves, often competing with dogs, cattle and goats for food.