The La Mision

Christmas Project

Our Story

My name is Kingston Howell. I am a seventeen-year-old who has been living in Mexico for four years. This is our fourth year doing the La Mision Christmas project. It is a labor of love to give back to a community that has welcomed our family as one of their own. 


Mexico has taught me a lot about poverty because many families live in poverty here in a way more people in the States do not understand. There are no social safety net programs here. 


Poverty is a way of life for a lot of very hard-working Mexicans. Most Mexicans work several jobs. Many Mexican children go to work with their mothers and often work alongside their mothers as soon as they are old enough to contribute. These Mexican families work harder than we can comprehend and are often still living in a kind of poverty I didn't grasp until living here. 

A lot of expats who've lived here for years still don't really understand it because they do not venture beyond "town" where they shop and do necessary business. 


La Mision is a small, picturesque community with acres and acres of agriculture that seem to spread out forever into the backcountry. There is a lot of generosity this time of year. However, the families who live in remote farming areas are often completely isolated from the typical holiday parties and charitable events. These families might come into "town" once a week for groceries. The children in these families are frequently overlooked because they are mostly invisible to the communities that surround them. 


Our first year of the La Mision Christmas Project was to ensure the kids in the isolated farming communities all got a present. We took donations from friends and family and partnered with the La Mision fire department to get things delivered and hoped for the best. In that first year, we were able to raise $1000, and we met and exceeded our goal for the number of children we were able to reach.

Last year, we doubled that goal and gave presents to children in the isolated farming areas and our local children here in La Mision and Santa Anita. December 2022, we loaded up more than 250 presents on a firetruck and headed out to spread Christmas cheer. 


In 2023 we distributed approximately 280 toys.


The children have learned to expect our visit. Last year, it felt worth it when we reached our first group of farming community kids. The firefighters used their megaphones to announce they had presents, and children sprinted through the fields to get to the trucks. Mothers with babies on their hips came out to get a gift for their little ones.

About the role of the La Mision Bomberos

It is important to us that the children feel like the gifts are coming from their community vs. coming from a group of gringos they don't know and will never meet.


We have partnered with The La Mision Bomberos, (fire department), from the very beginning of our project.  The Bomberos have both the resources and the heart to do this project.  Distributing these gifts on go-day is not for the faint of heart. When we say remote, we mean REMOTE. The bomberos know the area, they know the kids, and they know how to give selflessly.


The Bomberos volunteer the better part of an entire day, usually taking time away from their scheduled paid work to do the gift distribution. This project would not work the way it does without them.


It was my experience with the Bomberos on these trips that inspired me to become a bombero myself. 

As a family, we personally do not celebrate Christmas, but this experience is Christmas spirit at its finest. As challenging as this is to organize, those moments are hard to describe and remind us what really matters this time of year. 


So, as per usual, we are getting a late start. Fire season has been keeping us busy. I am a volunteer firefighter, but that is a whole other story. Our goal this year is three hundred gifts. 


We buy actual, high-quality presents for each child and wrap each of them individually. Our home and the homes of a couple of trusted volunteers turn into Christmas central for several days while we wrap gifts. It is a lot of joyous chaos.

Yes, there are other wonderful organizations and people who do cool things for kids in our area this time of year. However, our goal is to fill a gap for the invisible kids who will legitimately not have a Christmas if we don't reach them. We have to take Christmas to them in these more remote areas. 


This is kind of an exercise in trust for all of us. 

We are not a charitable organization, so you will not get a tax deduction for donating. 


We can assure you that donating to this cause is a direct pass-through of your money to the people who need it. There are no administration costs for this project. The money you donate will go straight to the kids.