Rising From The Ashes

by Brooke Ezzo | photos courtesy of Claudia Roman

There aren’t many 12-year-olds who can say they’ve met a president. But for Lantana resident Juliana Lopez, her philanthropic efforts led her straight to the presidential palace of Bolivia, South America.

After hearing about the August 2019 “I like reworking dolls, I clean them up and fires that destroyed more than 5.6 million then sell them,” Juliana said. “I put in new acres in the Bolivian Amazon, Juliana hair, remove the stains, and repaint them. became motivated to create a relief fund I’ve sold around 13 dolls.” aimed to help recover the habitat of all affected animals. Juliana added, “I have a lot of supplies to fix dolls. I get raggedy dolls from thrift “My family is from Bolivia, so when I stores and then fix them up. Then I would found out, I was really sad,” Juliana said. sell them to friends and neighbors.” “I really like nature, and the fires destroyed the forests, and a lot of animals were forced out of their homes.” “IT WAS A BIG PROJECT, AND IT Those dolls and other fundraising initiatives earned her well over $1,000, and her family Juliana symbolically IS INCREDIBLE AND graciously matched the named her fundraising VERY SATISFACTORY raised amount, giving project, Phoenix, wanting THAT YOUR MONEY Juliana $3,000 to donate to help the lost animals resurface from the ashes. CAN HELP FEED THAT MANY PEOPLE,” to the relief efforts. Unfortunately, by the She has always had a love for arts and crafts, CLAUDIA SAID time Juliana was ready to donate, the global and when she found an pandemic had made its old doll on the playground at school, she way around the world. She was aware of came up with the idea to sell restored the financial impact the coronavirus was dolls as a way to fundraise. having on Bolivian residents and decided

pictured above is Juliana Lopez (left) and President Jeanine Anez Chavez of Bolivia (right)

to put her Amazonian relief efforts on hold to focus on helping feed those in need in her family’s hometown of Santa Cruz.

“There was an immediate problem of feeding people there,” Claudia Roman, Juliana’s mother said. “She decided that the money she raised for the fires would go toward helping the people.”

With family and friends still living in Bolivia, Juliana was put in touch with a

woman named Maria Paula Munoz who was running a soup kitchen with her husband and their three children. For 13 weeks straight, Maria cooked meals for over 100,000 people. The funds raised by Juliana went toward purchasing food and supplies for the soup kitchen.

“It was a big project, and it is incredible and very satisfactory that your money can help feed that many people,” Claudia said.

Word of Juliana’s project spread through the city and quickly gained the attention of former interim President, Jeanine Anez Chavez. Juliana and her parents were invited to Bolivian presidential palace this past August, along with other U.S.

institutions that were bringing aid to the country.

“I was the only child attending the meeting. I felt very special,” Juliana said. “I was very happy to meet the president. She is important to Bolivia because she helped get the country in control even after severe events. And, she is the first female president — very independent and strong.”

Juliana added, “It felt really nice to have someone so important say ‘thank you for your donation.’ We couldn’t really hug or shake hands, so I elbowed her like an elbow shake.”

Juliana and her parents spent 10 days in Bolivia seeing family, visiting military bases, and spending time at the soup kitchen. The kitchen is still feeding people, and Juliana continues to send raised funds to Bolivia. Most recently, sales from restored dolls helped donate necessities, like toiletries, to children in Santa Cruz.

“I THINK IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR MY GENERATION TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT’S CURRENTLY HAPPENING IN THE WORLD,” JULIANA SAID.

“I will continue to donate money and still look forward to helping the Amazon. I want to help any way I can.”

The coronavirus, much like the Amazon forest fires, burned through countries destroying financial stability, job security, and peace of mind. Projects like Phoenix, help to lift people out of the ashes one meal at a time.

Juliana said she isn’t sure what she wants to be when she grows up — an investor or business owner. Whatever path she chooses to take, she hopes to make a lot of money so she can donate more.

“My dream is to help a lot of people,“ Juliana said.

To help support Juliana’s project by purchasing a restored doll, please email Claudia Roman at Clauro4@verizon.net.