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Have you ever dreamed of designing your own shoes, with your favorite colors and your own unique style? Well, Andrea Brenes, a student at the Abraham Lincoln School and granddaughter of Xiomara Menendez, the founder of the Hogar del Niño charity is decorating and personalizing shoes – with all funds raised contributed to the Hogar del Niño!
Over the years, there have been a great number of Casa de Campo villa owners, residents and visitors who have genorously made contributions, whether it has been by donating, volunteering or organizing fundraising activities to benefit the Hogar del Niño, an educational/day care center for more than 1500 children in La Romana.
However, as the years go by, the activities and ideas developed to help this wonderful educational center are becoming more and more impressive and imaginative; an example of this is what Andrea Brenes is doing for the Hogar del Niño. Following her grandmother’s example, Xiomara Menéndez, Andrea has been inspired to create a fabulous way of raising funds – by decorating canvas shoes!
Transforming plain white canvas shoes into wonderful, colorful and unique creations using permanent markers (sharpies) is something Andrea has been doing for a while. In fact it all started when Andrea painted a pair of shoes for herself and her friends started asking her to paint some for them and suddenly a lot of people were interested!
Today, designing and painting canvas shoes is a passion which Andrea has transformed into a great way to raise money for the Hogar del Niño.
Andrea’s painted canvas shows are fabulous for all tastes and ages – because Andrea customizes the designs especially for what you want for only RD$700 (all of which she is donating to the Hogar del Niño!)
Aren’t they incredible? If you are one of those who love catching up on trends and fashion, this is your chance to order your personalized canvas shoes designs AND support this wonderful cause!
“Arts and crafts has always been something I enjoy doing in my free time so I guess I have self taught myself .After Andrea graduates from the Abraham Lincoln School this year and before she moves to Boston to study business, she plans to teach the kids of the Hogar del Niño these faboulous techniques (probably at the Zona Verde), so that after she’s gone, they can keep raising money with the painted canvas shoes! Here are some of the shoes painted by Andrea. The designs don’t have to be like these ones, Andrea is open to any suggestions and they can be any colour!People get influenced by other people. In my case, I was influenced by my grandmother, Xiomara. She has made me realize that the purpose of life is to grow by shining light upon the lives of others; to grow together. This mindset has inspired me to collect money for the underprivileged. Decorating shoes, I believe is a simple and a fun way to do so. It is something I hope I can keep doing to contribute and help strengthen our community” —— Andrea Brenes
Decorated canvas shoes by AndreaHelp Andrea raise funds for the Hogar del Niño! ♦ You can give Andrea a pair of new or washed shoes and she will happily decorate them for only RD$700! ♦ If you wish to have new shoes, you can always buy them on amazon.com ♦ The RD$700 will be donated to the Hogar del Niño! Contact Andrea at: andreagbv@live.com
The Hogar del NiñoThe Hogar del Niño is a children’s daycare and educational center for over 1500 children, located in La Romana town, just outside of Casa de Campo. Children from as young as just a few weeks old up to 18 years old are cared for and educated daily, from as early as 5:30am and staying as late as 7pm. The organization also provides special schooling to over 75 hearing impaired and blind children, as well as a vocational school where over 235 students receive classes in different areas like: sewing; industrial preparation, installation and electrical maintenance; plumbing and management of computer office programs.
Contact the Hogar del Niño on: Tel:(809) 523-8901 or (809) 556-3181 Email:info@pbo.org.do Website:www.hogardelnino.com