How imgur Secret Santa became something bigger than I expected thanks to a really caring dude. I’m looking at you @MedMonkey !(Fixed!- now that it’s actually finished)

How it all started- I told myself I wouldn’t message my secret Santa but when I got this guy I was totally lost and had no idea where to start. His profile said he liked video games, cooking and some other nerdy stuff but he was pretty much planning to donate whatever gifts he got to the kids he works with at orphanages in mexico. I was totally torn so I gave in and messaged him for ideas of what they might actually need instead of guessing.

Turns out we’re basically neighbors. He lives about an hour and a half away and works at SDSU. We go back and fourth with ideas and he tells me a bunch more about the group he travels with.

"SDSU MedLife strives to make a difference in both the global community, as well as the local San Diego community.
​We are a chapter of the international, 100% nonprofit MEDLIFE (Medicine, Education, and Development for Low-Income FamiliesEverywhere) dedicated to partnering with low-income communities in Latin America to improve their access to medicine, education, and community development initiatives. MEDLIFE achieves this mission through Volunteer Trips, the MEDLIFE Project Fund, and student empowerment."

“We participate in mobile clinics in South America ​(soon to be around the world!), organize global health awareness events, raise money for the MedLife fund, and volunteer throughout San Diego and Mexico empowering people to live healthier lives.”

Mobile clinic in Tacate where clothes and food were also distributed.

“We look to educate the community about the current needs and aspects of global healthcare and develop our members into compassionate and dedicated individuals.”

The instagram caption below goes with this photo as well as the photo beneath it.

Thanksgiving in Tijuana

The day after Christmas I ended up being in San Diego to visit family so instead of dealing with the postal service I hand delivered all the goodies! -Never meet strangers off the internet kids!- Ha but really it was a smooth meeting and @medmonkey is as chill in person as he is online. You can tell he’s super passionate about what they do.

Da loot! My Grame and I helped wrap gifts at the Boys and Girls club of Anaheim a few days before Christmas. When they heard I was trying to put together gifts for the Medlife crew to take to the orphanages on their next trip they handed me a bag and said “Fill er’ up and say Merry Christmas from us!” Thank you so much B&G club of Anaheim for these wonderful gifts.

A family friend of mine who’s a State Farm insurance agent- no his name is not Jake, it’s Mark- had a box full of coloring books and crayons that he graciously donated. I threw in some extra stickers I had from Disney’s summer or heros because every kid deserves to be a super hero!

These are the folks that make up Medlife SDSU. Their passion and dedication to their mission is inspiring and they deserve all the support in the world.

I got a message a few days ago that they made their trip and brought a bunch of the toys to give out!

Call it bragging if you want but it makes me super happy to see these kids getting to enjoy some Christmas gifts that I got to have fun picking out. I hope they enjoy them.

Kids smiles are great but there’s something about this photo with the mom looking so happy that gets me.

The biggest of thanks goes out to all these amazing students out in the field helping to keep people healthy and happy! You guys are the real MVPs!

This is probably not my most well executed post but I really wanted to get as much info out about this group as possible. It’s a cool thing when the internet connects people and I am so thankful for all of those who helped me contribute to such a great cause. It was so nice to meet you @MedMonkey !!

Should you want to learn more or contribute and help these guys out-

Main site: https://sdsumedlife.weebly.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MedlifeSdsu/

https://www.instagram.com/medlife_sdsu/

https://www.gofundme.com/medlifesdsu

tl;dr - Click a link above to learn more about who my Secret Santa wanted gifts for.