After Hurricane Katrina, Trella Laughlin gathered up a lot of supplies donated by people in the Eureka Springs area and drove to the Gulf Coast to deliver them to people who had lost their homes. It might be argued that the migrant children from south of the border with Mexico are worse off than hurricane victims, who were given generous private and government assistance.
Many of the migrant children have been housed in tents, even with the high summertime temperatures of South Texas. Attorneys have been told by some children that they have not been able to bathe in a month, and are not receiving regular meals or personal hygiene supplies.
After hearing about the problems, Laughlin planned to get donations locally and deliver them to the migrant camps. But she learned from a friend in Austin, Texas, that donations were being turned down and not allowed to reach the migrant children with the excuse that “some bad people might try to poison the children.”
Laughlin said she knows who the bad people are, and it isn’t the Americans who care about children.
“When I found out that they wouldn’t accept anything, I didn’t go to the border,” she said. “Instead, I decided that the only thing I can do to help is raise money for this organization called Lawyers for Good Government out of Houston. They are trying to raise money for Project Corazón, which means heart in Spanish.
“The lawyers are the only ones who can get access to the children and help them with their legal problems and with finding their parents. It is a 501(c)(3) project that is highly regarded. The website is lawyersforgoodgovernment.org. Go to the Project Corazón link on that website. The lawyers are distinguished people, and so are a lot of the volunteers.”
Laughlin said she is ashamed to be an American in Trump’s world where children are fenced, sleeping on concrete floors, fed frozen burritos, separated from their parents, and abused by disrespect.
“There are children taking care of babies and other absolute violations of human rights,” Laughlin said. “I’m so upset. I just can’t stand it. It is bad enough for women and men, but little children? I can do this, raise money for a distinguished organization that can get in to help the children. Please help me. I will be going around Eureka starting July 1 wearing my Love t-shirt with a little green bucket taking donations that will go directly to Lawyers for Good Government’s Project Corazón.”
Laughlin said a lot of people in Eureka Springs are concerned about this issue.
“I’m not the only one,” she said. “Please donate to the bucket or you can write a check and mail it to Lawyers for Good Government, 10685B Hazelhurst Drive, #19646, Houston TX 77043.”