Pedro
had an unusual childhood. His father died when he was ten, and as the oldest
son, he assumed the responsibility to provide for his family. He dropped out of
school and began looking for work. In his country, it was not uncommon for a
child to find work in a factory. Wages were low and the hours were long, but
Pedro was ambitious and he had a family to feed. After a long day at the
factory, Pedro would walk the city streets with a rag and shine shoes for tips.
When he saved enough money he purchased some shoe polish and his tips
increased. After several years Pedro was able to acquire a small kiosk with a
permanent location. Every evening after working in the factory Pedro would
shine shoes and people came to respect him for his hard work and punctuality.
Life was a struggle but he always wore a smile.
By
his late teens, Pedro had become known as a master apprentice. He would
regularly teach kids how to survive on the streets by shining shoes. He was
sort of a big brother and mentor to dozens of youth living in challenging
situations.
In
time, Pedro came to have a family of his own, a wife and four children. Six
people living in a one-bedroom shanty would have been unbearable if not for the
love they felt for one another. Still, Pedro wanted more for his family, and
this led to one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
Pedro
asked his wife, Maria, to leave the country and find a higher paying job in
America. She arrived in New York and was hired to work in a factory. She worked
for two years to save enough money to buy a plane ticket for Pedro to join her.
Then Pedro made another big sacrifice and left his four children with relatives
so he could come to America and begin saving to bring them all together again.
Pedro found work in a shoe factory, where his skill and experience with shoes
allowed him to excel. He moved into manufacturing, where he made shoes for
unique people and events. His shoes were worn by the famous Radio City Music
Hall Rockettes, ballet dancers, and even the Smallest Man in the World in the
Ringling Brothers Circus. Within two years, Pedro had saved enough money to
bring his children to New York for a permanent family reunion.
JP
was Pedro’s youngest son, and at age four, he had hardly spent any time with
his parents. Pedro made up for this by teaching JP important life lessons about
working hard and not forgetting where you come from. JP recalls numerous family
trips back to his home country of the Dominican Republic. He never understood why
his family traveled with so many suitcases on those trips. He often complained
how heavy they were and found it curious that they were so light on the way
back to NY. As a teenager, he learned that his father would pack the bags with
clothes and supplies for people in his hometown less fortunate than him. This
taught JP one of his dad’s favorite lessons firsthand: giving back
unconditionally.
Pedro
died in the summer of 2000 but his legacy lives on. JP, better known as Juan
Casimiro, grew to be one of the world’s leading experts on youth empowerment.
He is a Big Brother and mentor to over 100 youth. Juan travels the world,
having visited over 30 countries, and never arrives empty-handed. In 2002, Juan
started a toy drive to personally deliver toys to deserving children in
developing countries. That first year he provided 50 toys to kids, and he knows
from experience that one toy often gets shared and passed down to three younger
children. Ten years later, the Casimiro Global Foundation has donated over thirty-thousand
toys to children all over the world. This year they have a goal of 10,000 toys
to benefit 10,000 children in 10 countries.
Remember
that everything you do matters. Pedro’s life and lessons impacted his son Juan,
who in turn has impacted hundreds of thousands of children all over the world.
Their story inspired me to donate to their charity, and I hope you will
consider donating toys or funds too: www.CasimiroGlobalFoundation.org
Many
people are looking to attract abundance into their life. Just remember that
giving always precedes receiving. This
Holiday season, I give you the gift of the Live to Give Mindset.
Until next week...
Live Your Dreams
