A dream bigger than himself
By Valorie Brecht One young man’s story demonstrates how we can accomplish so much more working together than we can on our own.
“If you have been given a dream of helping others, don’t be afraid to take the first step. Don’t worry if it’s something you can’t do on your own; it’s actually better that way,” said James Meyer, who visited Loyal High School last week, speaking to both the middle/high school students and the elementary students.
James, a senior at Rice Lake High School, had a dream to build houses for the poor in Guatemala. The fundraising effort he started has led to over $102,000 being raised and a dozen families now having a home.
James’ grandfather, Danny Meyer, is a lifelong Loyal resident, and his great-aunt Coni Meyer is the middle/high school secretary at Loyal. James spoke at Loyal six years ago and returned last week to share his story with a new batch of students and give an update to those who remember hearing him before.
James’ story begins in Guatemala. He was born to a woman named Estella who worked at a coffee plantation making less than $2 a day. Estella wanted greater opportunities for her son than she could provide herself, so she gave him up for adoption. At the age of 1, James was adopted by Damon and Arlaina Meyer and brought home from Guatemala.
“When I was in kindergarten, my mom saw me running water down the bathroom sink for fun. I found out that we were really lucky to have clean water, as some kids in Guatemala don’t,” said James.
He and his family had just heard from a speaker from Food for the Poor, who explained it cost $285 to purchase a water pump that would give families access to clean water. That year, James held a birthday party for his kindergarten classmates and invited them to bring coins instead of gifts that would go toward purchasing a water pump for a family in Guatemala. James’ classmates, family and friends raised enough money for one water pump. They decided to continue the tradition for the next four years and were able to purchase chickens, goats and other resources to economically support Guatemalans.
At the age of 10, James and his family visited Guatemala as part of a team with Food for the Poor. The team visited a community called Laguna Seca and presented gifts of hygiene items and toys to the children, and worked to build two new houses for families. They also gained a better understanding of the needs there, one of the biggest being safe shelter.
“The homes we visited had one room for the entire family, and the rooms were really small,” said James.
He said many kids were unable to go to school there, because they had to work to provide for their families. It was often the job of the young girls to carry water back to their homes. Their main diet consisted of corn tortillas with salt, said James. Because children were not getting enough protein, their growth was stunted.
However, for as many needs as the Meyers witnessed, there were also many organizations stepping in to help, such as Feed My Starving Children, which provides nutrient-rich meals for children in impoverished countries; or Food for the Poor, which has established cooperatives to help people grow and sell their own vegetables.
“Going on a mission trip reminded me how grateful I am to have good food, clothing, fresh water and shelter. The people of Guatemala touched our hearts and we wanted to help them out. But what could we do to help?” said James.
“I had a dream of building a house for a family. It would cost over $7,000 but I only had $6 to share at the time. I knew it would be tough, but I was ready to work hard and give it a lot of thought to make the dream a reality.”
James’ parents encouraged him and he started spreading the word however he could. His aunt works at a radio station and he agreed to go on air and talk about his fundraiser, despite being scared to do so.
“I wasn’t sure at first because at that time, I wasn’t comfortable speaking to a big group of people. But I thought it was important to share and I was given the strength to do it, anyway,” James said.
He also contacted family and friends, who got involved by hosting various fundraisers and bake sales, writing newspaper articles, speaking at churches, and telling their family and friends about James’ big idea. In just a little over a month, two double-unit homes were funded.
As the years passed, James kept the dream going. In 2018, James talked to students at St. Anthony Catholic School and Loyal Public Schools, and at his grandmother Diane Meyer’s funeral at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. Enough funds were raised to build a home in Diane’s memory. In addition, four of the homes were funded by the Rice Lake Rotary Club. One of the homes was funded by the staff, students, families and supporters of St. Joseph Catholic School in Rice Lake. James’ homeroom class led the fundraising efforts, completing fundraising in time for their eighth-grade graduation in 2020.
“It’s brought so many people together and it’s been fun to witness all these people being brought together to do something good,” said Arlaina.
In 2019, James had the opportunity to speak at an agriculture convention and got connected to a man from Guatemala who wanted to help farmers in his home country. Through support from family, friends and a $12,000 grant through the Mary Alphonse Bradley Fund, partners at Cáritas Arquidiocesana de Guatemala have helped to establish the “Guernseys for Guatemala” program, which supports two dozen farmers and their families.
James’ high school continues to raise money to pack food through Feed My Starving Children, and fundraising continues to build homes for the poor.
“We are working on the 13th home now,” said James.
He and his family also had the opportunity to visit Guatemala again about a year ago and see the impact the homes had on the recipients.
“It was really neat to see from when we visited the first time to this last trip, how much has changed… It was very humbling to see it firsthand. After you see what their homes are, stuff is leaking through and it’s just recycled stuff, now here’s a home and they feel secure where they’re at and their communities around them feel more secure,” said Damon.
He said it was amazing to witness how this story has unfolded and gone beyond what any of them could have expected.
“It’s really humbling, just how much it’s grown. When one person hears about it, then they go to the next one and the next organization and they’re like, ‘You should really hear this story.’ It just has this waterfall effect that more people come together with it. So that’s been fun. It just takes one person to share it with the next group,” said Damon.
Arlaina also emphasized how it took the entire community working together to reach the goal of 12 homes built — and counting.
“We didn’t do this. James didn’t do this. He just had the dream and he was not afraid of failing; he was just encouraged to try,” said Arlaina.
James’ great-aunt Coni encouraged the young people listening to James’ presentation to take his story to heart and use it as an encouragement in pursuing their own dreams.
“Many of you have big ideas, and you think they’re dumb, not that important. But it’s just the inspiration that comes in. That’s all James had. He went home and was like, ‘What if we build a house?’ And I’m sure his parents thought he was a little bit nuts. ‘Where’s he going to get the money to build a house? He’s 10 years old!’ But they didn’t want to squelch his dream,” she said.
“You have dreams. You can do these things. And your inspiration is finding the adults that maybe will help you along. If you look at the adults in this room, they will tack on to your dream to make it happen. Anything is possible if we all work together.
“His dream was so important that he did it scared.”
It costs about $9,800 to build a home. To donate to this project, visit champions. foodforthepoor.org/fundraiser/4863272. For more information on being part of a mission trip, go to foodforthepoor.org/ mission-trips/. To learn more, don’t hesitate to reach out to Danny at 608-397-2354.
VALORIE BRECHT/ STAFF PHOTOS
