New Mexico Man Walks Two Weeks to Build a Home for the Poor
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2020) The love of walking and helping the poor was all the motivation needed for Food For The Poor donor Daniel Valdez to complete his fifth 500-mile walk. Valdez walks to raise awareness about the plight of the poor, and to fundraise for a home for a destitute family through Food For The Poor.
“I really enjoy walking and meeting different people along the way – some would even walk with me – but most wanted to know why I was walking,” Valdez said. “Many thought I was trying to break some kind of a record, and I would tell them I am walking to help others, we all must share what we have to help others. My goal is to touch hearts. Even if I only touched one heart on this walk it was worth it.”
Valdez, 57, has touched a lot of hearts along the way, the same way his heart was moved to fundraise for a home for a mother and her children in Guatemala after learning about her story.
Blanca’s young son needed surgery for a hernia, and she and her husband did not have the money for the procedure, so her husband decided to go to United States to find work. Two weeks later, Blanca learned her husband died along the way. She was pregnant with their second son at the time. Several years later, Blanca and her young sons have been struggling in their makeshift home on a hillside in La Culebra that floods when it rains and is cold and drafty at night.
“Food For The Poor donors are truly amazing on so many levels. Daniel has found a creative way to do what he can on behalf of the poor,” said Food For The Poor EVP and Chief Marketing Officer Angel Aloma. “Daniel’s efforts are heartwarming because he really wants to give Blanca and her sons a dry and secure home, which most certainly will transform their lives for the better. This will be a beautiful blessing for this family.”
Valdez’s fifth annual trek wrapped up on Jan. 4, 2020, in Delicias, Chihuahua, Mexico. His 15-day journey started in his hometown of Lovington, N.M., on Dec. 20, 2019.
He walked and ran through 19 U.S. cities in New Mexico and Texas, before crossing the border into Mexico. He has raised almost enough money for a home. To help finish the home, visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/danielvaldez for a secure online donation.
“It’s hard to express how I feel knowing that my walks are helping families in desperate need,” Valdez said. “I am not a rich man, but I will continue my walks, unless God has something else for me to do.”
Valdez has built two homes for families in Nicaragua since he started his walks for the poor.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of the hungry poor primarily in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for orphaned or abandoned children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org.
Wanda Wright
Public Relations
954-427-2222 x 6079
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