Martha Katz’s Story

I read about Pack for a Purpose in Oprah’s magazine and thought what a wonderful organization, too bad I won’t be traveling to any of those places. Then, an opportunity arose for me to travel to Guatemala this summer. I immediately went to the Pack for a Purpose website to see if there was a project in Guatemala. I was thrilled to see that not only was there a project, the partnering hotel was only a few kilometers outside of Antigua, where I would be based. The school in El Hato needed school supplies, which certainly spoke to me as a teacher. I sent an e-mail to the other teachers at my school, including a blurb about the school, and asked for donations from anyone who felt moved to donate. Well, within the hour, the donations started arriving in my classroom. My son, who is adopted from Guatemala, also helped by spending $20 of his own money to buy supplies. All told, I filled a duffle bag with 25 pounds of supplies. I had hoped to visit the school, but the week I arrived in Guatemala was only a partial school week and then the students were starting their winter vacations. However, the owners of Earth Lodge, the partnering hotel, offered to come to Antigua and collect the supplies from me. I hope that next time I am in Guatemala, I will be able to bring more supplies and have an opportunity to visit the school.