Connecticut Teacher Bikes Across US To Raise Money For Guatemalan Families In Need
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Connecticut Teacher Bikes Across US To Raise Money For Guatemalan Families In Need
High school teacher takes philanthropic bike trip across the USA to raise awareness about ways to help Central American children and families in need.
When I first signed on as a trip chaperone over a decade ago, I had no idea that I was about to join a project that would be life-changing and one of the most meaningful chapters of my career.” — David Dethlefs
David is a teacher at Taft, a prep school in Watertown, Connecticut. Last summer, he was preparing to bring a group of students who volunteered to build homes for families in need to Guatemala, as he had done 13 years before. Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled due to a US State Dept. reclassification.
But that wasn’t enough to deter David’s desire to help others. While some people might have used the sudden spare time to take a vacation – after all, the trip was set to take place during summer break – David decided to launch a campaign to bike across America to raise awareness and funds for the children helped by the charity The GOD’S CHILD Project. The organization runs specialized schools to help children who otherwise wouldn’t have education access, a hospital dedicated to malnourished children, clinics and shelters as well as building homes and distributing vital supplies to Guatemalan families in need.
David completed the first leg of the trip last summer, biking from Washington state to Fargo, North Dakota. This summer he will complete the second part of the trip by biking from Connecticut to Fargo, North Dakota once again. He plans to arrive in Fargo around August 1st.
You can support David’s mission and help raise money for children and families in Guatemala through David’s GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/going-for-a-bike-ride
A HISTORY OF GIVING
Connecticut’s Taft School has a long track record of charitable activity, including annual trips to Guatemala in service of The GOD’S CHILD Project.
Over the past decade, 134 Taft students have traveled to Guatemala with the help of 12 faculty members as chaperones. Together, they have built 39 homes for families in need – enough to shelter 200+ parents, grandparents and children. They also handed out food to the homeless, cared for suffering or abandoned children at Casa Jackson Hospital for Malnourished Children (www.CasaJackson.org), and much more in what the students describe as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
You can read David’s touching and inspiring account of the school’s work with The GOD’S CHILD Project here: https://issuu.com/taftschool/docs/taftfall17issuu/52. You can also watch a video of Taft students’ previous service at https://vimeo.com/236424058.
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David Dethlefs dips the back wheel of his trusty bike “Lola” in the ocean before biking across the USA to raise awareness for The GOD’S CHILD Project, a charity project that helps children in Central America with housing, education, and food.
Volunteers build homes for families in need, who previously live with dirt floors or in homelessness.
Taft students help teach kids at the Dreamer Center School in Antigua, Guatemala. Children at this school aren’t able to afford public school and would otherwise receive no education.
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