I attended a Hero Holiday last summer to the Dominican Republic for 10 days and loved it! I has never felt so at home with a group of people that I had never met. When I came home, I felt satisfied with my experience and thought that I wouldn’t go back. The more I thought about my experience and how it had affected me, the more I began thinking about doing a trip again. My parents at first were against this because they wanted me to work as much as I could in the summer, since I will be going away to University in the fall. Finally, after a lot of convincing my parents approved. I decided that I would apply for the internship program in the DR. The first day that the applications came out, I filled mine out and sent it! I was so ecstatic when I received that e-mail that I had been accepted!
When my church heard about me going on a Hero Holiday again, they immediately agreed to support me and raise as much money as possible towards the trip. I felt so blessed that they would be willing to help me with something that I am so passionate about. We started planning all the activities that would be offered throughout the months of December until April. The fundraisers included, a Spaghetti Dinner (which was a huge success), Music Night, Supper and Movie Night, Penny drive, Brick-by-Brick fundraiser and a Yard Sale. The amount of funds raised so far has been very overwhelming and I am so appreciative of everyone’s hard work.
Since almost all of the funds are raised I am becoming very excited about the trip, the friends I am going to meet and all of the memories that I am going to have for a lifetime. It is so exciting to know that I get to do what I am so passionate about, NOW!! I do not do a lot of things on my own and don’t think that I could have done this unless I went last summer and met all of the wonderful people that are dedicated to this organization. I am so thrilled to be able to spend a month making a difference in the world with some of the most amazing people that I have ever met!