Each year, Niños con Valor gathers to celebrate the gift of Christmas, to spend a day reflecting on the successes of the year that is coming to an end, and in general, to be together as a family.

The day begins with a presentation planned by the children and the staff. This year, the girls of Corazón del Pastor acted out the nativity in their own style, then we had a few dance numbers.

Afterwards, we opened Christmas gifts. This is always such fun chaos, and the smiles on the children’s faces is such a joy to see. This year, with six children spending Christmas with us for the first time, it was all the more exciting.

After gifts, we all went outside to eat an incredible Christmas meal prepared by the staff and teens. Several board members joined us, as well as other friends of NCV.

After lunch, the visitors went home, and a couple hours later Paola and Tyson returned with a final gift for Corazón del Pastor. After years of asking, and a lot of work improving our girls’ responsibility, we adopted a little puppy who had been abandoned just a couple days earlier. Paola and the staff named the puppy Dori, which means “divine gift”.