Jennifer Thompson of McKinney still can't believe it. After a story about the 21-year-old ran in The Dallas Morning News a few weeks ago, she said people began calling and sending checks to help. Jennifer wants to build an orphanage in Bolivia for abandoned babies.

"It's been so encouraging to see others getting excited about it," said Jennifer, adding that she had prayed for signs that she was on the right path. "We can't do this alone."

Thanks to an anonymous donation from a generous McKinney couple, she now has about $25,000 of her $58,000 goal - enough money to break ground on the orphanage, called Casa de Amor (Spanish for House of Love) and start building.

"It was the exact push we needed to be able to do it," said Jennifer, who plans to move to Bolivia next spring to get the orphanage up and running.

"Yo estoy feliz," she said. That means "I am happy" in Spanish, which she is trying to learn quickly before moving south.

She said she's also amazed. But Jennifer, who teaches English to non-native speakers at the McKinney Public Library, hasn't yet learned how to say amazed in Spanish.

"I'll ask my students," she said. "They'll help me."

Back to Newsletters Home