On Monday,
December 22, Cerritos College women's soccer
coach
Ruben Gonzalez and three members of
his national and state championship team joined
members of Infinity Auto Insurance of Cerritos
to travel down to Tijuana to bring more than 350
toys and over $2000 in donations to the Casa
Hogar Santa Teresita de Jesus Orphanage for
Girls. In addition to receiving gifts and money
for the orphanage, the girls experienced a
wonderful holiday celebration which included
piņatas, food, face painting, music and a visit
from Santa.
"My wife and I
did this last year and it was such a moving
experience for us," said Gonzalez, whose wife
Senaida works for Infinity Insurance. "Because
it went so well last year, I wanted to include
some of the girls so they could share in the
experience."
Freshman
goalkeeper
Tiffany Hollis (Lakewood HS)
was one of the three players that joined in the
five-car caravan filled with toys and presents
for the orphanage that houses 58 girls from 3 to
15 years of age. "It was a really good
experience and I was really touched by
everything," said Hollis, who was the winning
goalkeeper in the state championship game. "It
was hard at first to see their situation, but
once we saw the smiles on their faces and
started interacting with everyone, it was a
great experience. They were just so happy to see
us coming and we all had a great time."
Corcoran was
also touched by the experience. "That was my
first experience ever in Mexico and I was really
shocked by the conditions when we were driving
there. But as we started driving up the hill to
the orphanage and then I saw that the placed
they lived in was nicer. The place is great for
those girls. They all sleep in one room, but
they have an area out back where they can play
basketball and soccer and have some fun."
Gonzalez
talked with the team to let them know that he
and his wife were going to be making the trip
and thought it might be a good experience for
several of his players to join the group. The
members of the insurance company worked with
their brokers to get the toys and money they
brought to the orphanage, which is run by nuns.
"My wife and I
wanted to try and do something to help others,
so we started doing some research on the
internet last year," said Gonzalez. "We picked
Casa Hogar because it's an orphanage for girls
and we're a women's soccer team. They also had a
place to play soccer - even though it was a
concrete surface. I'm hoping to do this every
year and bring more players with me."
"It was just
so amazing to see their smiles. They just lit me
up when they would coming running up to us and
it was really touching," added Corcoran. "There
was one girl, Julia, who was three, and I wished
I could have brought her home with me. I was
dancing with her and afterwards whenever she saw
me, she ran up to me and grabbed my leg.
They are all so very bright and it's so easy to
get attached to them."
"You know,
just seeing the smiles on the faces of the girls
at the orphanage made the whole experience that
much more enjoyable for us," said Gonzalez, who
was one of 10 people that made the drive to the
orphanage, located about 30 miles past the
Mexico border. "Even though it rained the whole
time and there was a lot of traffic both ways,
it really didn't matter. It was such a pleasure
to do that for the girls at the orphanage."
"I don't care
where I'm at next year, if coach let's me come
with them, I'm going," said Corcoran, who was a
sophomore on this year's team. "It was the best
experience of my life."
About the photo:
Cerritos College women's soccer players Luliana
Maldonado, Tiffany Hollis (standing) and Tara
Corcoran (kneeling) share a moment with one of
the girls at the Casa Hogar Santa Teresita de
Jesus Orphanage for Girls in Tijuana on Monday.
