To Mierella Castillo, Nelson Toala is more than just her dad. He’s her hero.
She said that without him, she wouldn’t be who she is today. He made sacrifices for her so that she could succeed, and that she will never forget.
Castillo first came to the United States in 2003 accompanied by Toala with a goal of attending radiology school. Toala had been a pharmacist in Ecuador, but he gave up that job to help his daughter.
From Ecuador, the two moved to Lubbock on the recommendation of a family friend. He waited for her to get settled and then returned to Ecuador about four months later.
MollyBeth Malcolm, executive vice president for campus operations and public affairs at Austin Community College, said she reads the Statesman s Season for Caring program stories every year when they come out the Sunday after Thanksgiving. She keeps an eye on how ACC might be able to help.
This year, she honed in on two Season for Caring families and started working with them to help them realize their education goals, including how to find funding.
One of the people ACC is working with is 39-year-old LaChantia Anderson. She has been trying to get into computer coding since she was living in a motel in San Diego in 2016. Someone gave her a laptop, and she would sit in a coffee shop using the shop s WiFi to teach herself coding. Through years of being homeless on and off, she kept pursuing that dream.
Academy gives $2,000 shopping sprees to 4 Season for Caring families
Families chose shoes, clothing and socks with a few fun things thrown in
Kirstan Kemkaran had her whole weekend planned.
The Georgetown 8-year-old was going to practice hitting the ball with her new mermaid-colored softball bat and catching with her new pink glove. She was then going to go fishing in San Gabriel Park and shoot cans in her backyard using her pink Red Ryder BB gun. At some point, she probably was also going to put on her roller skates.
Kirstan s new gear was purchased during a shopping spree she and her family went on at Academy Sports and Outdoors. On Friday, the sporting goods store gave four Statesman Season for Caring families $2,000 each in gift cards to buy whatever they wanted.