Connect The Hearts

Guatemalan EffortsConnect the Hearts helped 135 families in two remote mountain communities in need: Alcoba and Los Cebollines near Jalapa. These communities suffer from stomach issues due to contaminated water, as well as respiratory illnesses from exposure to smoke from unvented, wood-burning stoves. We traveled to Guatemala in February 2024 and installed approximately 100 smokeless stoves and 100 water filter systems. In November 2024 Connect the Hearts went back to Guatemala to aid a third community in need. Las Peas is a community of 31 families in extreme poverty, surviving on subsistence farming. At 6,000 ft in elevation, Las Peas is very difficult to get to. Mud roads and no guardrails it takes over 2 hours in a 4x4 from Jalapa. Connect the Hearts installed smokeless stoves and water filtration systems in all the homes in Las Peas as well as 33 water storage tanks in Los Cebollines on this second visit to Guatemala in November 2024.Mexico OutreachConnect the Hearts continued to aid Gods children in Mexico through Corazn. In 2024, we built 9 houses, installed electrical system in a recently built Corazn house in Tijuana and oversaw the installation of a septic tank for a Corazn house in Tecate. In 2024, Connect the Hearts traveled over 1,700 miles to make 16 Corazn fundraising presentations to Rotary Clubs all over Southern California throughout the year. In October 2024, Connect the Hearts began our relationship with International Network of Hearts, the charity that runs Casa de Jardn. Casa de Jardn is a group home in Mexico that provides comprehensive residential services and optimal care to survivors of human trafficking. Connect the Hearts helps to financially support these children (between the ages of 5-17,) rescued and cared for by this wonderful organization.

ST. KILIAN'S CATHOLIC CHURCHOperation Christmas Angel In December, Connect the Hearts ran the Operation Christmas Angel Program at St Kilian Church benefiting the children of Food Pantry clients and students at St Anns Catholic School in Santa Ana, CA. Connect the Hearts interviewed the families to collect ages, clothing and shoe sizes and gift ideas. We then matched up each individual child with a St Kilian Parishioner, who purchased the Christmas gifts.Connect the Hearts teamed up with Boy Scout Troop to distribute Christmas gifts to over 330 children.St Kilian Food PantryConnect the Hearts supported St. Kilian Church and Food Pantry by picking up loads of donated food almost each week at the local grocery stores as part of the Grocery Rescue Program run through Second Harvest Food Bank. Connect The Hearts picked up the load, weighed it, logged it and unloaded it into St. Kilian Food Pantry. In 2024, Connect The Hearts also delivered food from St. Kilian Food Pantry to many families who do not have the ability to pick up food themselves.Thanksgiving DinnerIn November 2024, Connect the Hearts organized the First Annual Thanksgiving Dinner at St Kilian Church in Mission Viejo. With over 100 volunteers, we served 306 dinners on Thanksgiving Day. Invitations went out to anyone lacking food, family or friends. Guests were comprised of St Kilian Food Pantry clients, as well as individuals and families who are homeless or living in their cars.