"There is nothing sadder in this world than to wake up on Christmas morning and not be a child," Erma Bombeck once said.
Red Smiles was born in December of the year 2020, a year that has a lot to tell us, and although it is the most awaited project of the year by those of us who are part of the Red Cross of Valle de Guadalupe, it has not always been easy.
Let's talk a little about the year 2020:
It was then that Mexico confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus COVID-19, and it was in March of that year that the first case was confirmed in my town of this invisible and deadly enemy. We in the health institutions were not prepared to face this microscopic giant that attacked us, which is why it overwhelmed our capacities and led many people to death, including colleagues who, even knowing the reality we lived in, looked after the well-being of those who were having a worse time than themselves. Thus, the days and months passed, and this giant continued to take its toll on many homes in my town, many people were left without jobs, the money that was there began to run out, and the Christmas season was getting closer and closer. We saw that homes began to put up Christmas decorations, but we also knew that unfortunately, many of our children from Valle de Guadalupe would not receive a Christmas gift. Moved by one of our fundamental principles as the Red Cross, we decided that we had to do something so that this giant would not take the most important thing from our children, which was to steal their smile and childhood.
We began to put money from our own salaries to buy toys and give them away, but
it wasn't enough. We asked for help from the people of our town and although they had every intention of helping, they had many limitations because the economy was not the best. But this was not a reason to give up, we continued with our goal which was to give a smile to our children, thus achieving the set goal.
That 2020 will remain in the memory of many as the worst of years, but for us, it will remain as the year in which we had to evade the reality of the children and disguise this pandemic with RED SMILES, which has now become a project that we carry out year after year to be able to give a smile to our children from the
most vulnerable communities and keep alive in them the magic of Christmas.
-Cruz Roja Valle de GPE