Since starting the Tres Islas Orphanage Fund 23 years ago, Donelle has been gainfully employed full-time, working every after-hour waking minute serving the children of orphanages in Mazatlan, Mexico. She spends her evenings, weekends and vacation time tirelessly emailing, writing newspaper articles, budgeting, fund raising and visiting the orphaned children in Mazatlan, Mexico. She is an ardent advocate for all the children in the orphanages, always seeking ways to improve their quality of life.  To Donelle, the orphanages are the children’s home, not an institution. She’s respectful of their directors’ wishes and preferences – never saying, “This is how you need to run this place.” She lives and breathes to care for the children, to make life better for them, to love them. She is like a mother to them. Donelle has conscientiously labored in love to raise more than $332,500, which has been spent on helping the children with the purchase of nourishing food every week, their school supplies, shoes, uniforms and backpacks, advanced education, medical needs, appliances, orphanage improvements to ensure the children live in a safe, sanitary and healthy environment. She’s created an education fund within the Fund that has two funds related to education. One purchases school supplies (school books, notebooks, pens, pencils, etc.), school shoes, school uniforms and backpacks. The second provides classes for the children – such as English, computer and tech/trade classes in addition to their daily school subjects. It is one of her goals that upon leaving the orphanage each youngster will go onto college or will have the enough English lessons, computer classes and/or tech/trade school classes for them to be able to enter the workforce – to be self-sufficient, capable of taking care of themselves and being contributing members of society. Donelle created the “Construction Fund” to perform improvements to the orphanages such as replacing water pumps, repairs to roofs and sewer pipes and purchasing new appliances. When the Fund began serving the orphanages, each was in a sad state of disrepair -sewage on the ground, bare dirt floors, rodents living in appliances. Thanks to her vision and leadership, the orphanages have been upgraded to meet health, safety and welfare needs. What began twenty-three years ago as a one-person effort to help the children in Mexico’s orphanages has blossomed into a thriving non-profit organization, actively serving five orphanages with over 100 children, with donors and volunteers from across North America. Donelle’s passion to help the children and her story has inspired others to join her in her mission. Her focus is and has always been what is best for the children, putting their welfare first and foremost. Donelle’s decision to have the operations and finances of the Fund transparent to the donors and volunteers, coupled with having 100% of all donations go toward the betterment of the children, set the organization apart from other non-profits. Over 100 donors contribute annually to support the Fund’s endeavors. Of these, 20-40 travel to Mazatlan for the Spring Mission Week where they upgrade the children’s homes, the orphanages, spend time with the children and their caregivers and get to know other donors. At inception, Donelle insisted the Fund be unique, in that 100% of all donations go toward the betterment of the children with nothing ever taken out for administration, salaries, or other expenses. The operating expenses are paid by for out-of-pocket - her pocket. Today, the Tres Islas Orphanage Fund serves approximately 123 children in five orphanages full-time. Since answering the call, the Fund’s total purchases for food, school supplies, shoes, uniforms, backpacks, advanced education, medical needs, appliances, health, safety and welfare improvements for the children in Mazatlan’s orphanages totals over $332,500! She also has insisted that the Fund hold in reserve enough to cover one year’s food expenses in the event the economy falters and donations fall off. This is to ensure the children continue to receive nourishing food without suddenly being cut off overnight. In return for each donation, each fall every donor (no matter how small) receives an annual report detailing every action and activity during the year to verify their donations were spent exactly as they wanted to help the needy children in orphanages. Also included in each annual report is the name and location of the banking institution, how much money is in the account and what interest accrued on the money earned is also provided to the donors. Donelle’s philosophy is the donations belong to the donors and she is the steward of their gifts, with responsibility for accounting to them for every cent.