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Community Corner

Parsippany Girl Leads Effort to Help Guatemalan Poor

Alexa Taylor shows you are never too young to make a difference.

Whiz Kid’s Name: Alexa Taylor

Whiz Kid’s Age: 8-years-old 

Whiz Kid’s School: The Wilson School

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Whiz Kid Nominated by: Judy Baker, Director, From Houses to Homes

Whiz Kid’s Key to Awesomeness

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Alexa Taylor from Lake Hiawatha proves that you are never too young to make a difference in the lives of others.   

 Alexa, adopted from Guatemala as a baby, decided last December that she wanted to do something to help Guatemala’s poor.   Alexa expressed her desire to her mother, Joanne, and they began to research various avenues.   Her mom met with Judy Baker, director of Houses to Homes, a nonprofit New Jersey-based organization that builds homes and improves the lives of the poor in Guatemala.  They discussed the possibility of selling cloth bracelets made by a young Guatemalan boy, Roberto Perez of San Antonio Palopo, Guatemala. The bracelet sales would not only benefit FHTH, but also support Roberto’s family.  Joanne and Alexa decided this would be a great project. 

 To promote and sell the bracelets, Alexa created a Power Point presentation about Guatemala, including a picture of the cornstalk shack her birth mother lives in.   She first presented it at the Wilson School where she will be a fourth grade student in the fall.   She was then invited to present at other schools throughout the area, including Lake Hiawatha School, the Pingry School, Hanover Park High School and Newark Academy. 

Students at these schools helped Alexa by selling the bracelets before and after school and during their lunch hour. Some of Alexa’s friends and teammates also supported Alexa’s project.

Although Alexa has raised well over $6,000 and continues to sell bracelets, she is not finished helping the people of Guatemala.   She and her mother plan to travel to Guatemala next year to build a home with Houses to Homes Project.  

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