Four steps, repeated every December for over a decade. Simple on purpose.
1. Donate
The GoFundMe campaign runs from late November to mid-December. Friends, family, and their networks chip in from anywhere.
2. Purchase
In mid-December we buy toys wholesale in the Belo Horizonte area. Roughly four US dollars becomes a quality doll or soccer ball.
3. Document
Every purchase generates an official Brazilian tax invoice (NF-e). Every donor receives a packet reconciling donations, fees, exchange rate, and the itemized purchase.
4. Deliver
On Christmas morning the motorcade rolls at 10 a.m. and volunteers hand every toy directly to a child.
Purchase day at the wholesaler, December 2019
Why wholesale in Brazil
Buying in the US and shipping would waste most of every donation. Buying wholesale in Contagem and Belo Horizonte turns a $20 gift into five real presents: dolls, soccer balls, trucks, and games. In recent years that has meant 1,000 to 1,300 quality toys from roughly $4,000 raised.
The toys are only half the day. Local volunteers separately collect food staples (cestas básicas) and clothing for families along the route, organized and funded in Brazil, never from campaign money.
See the receipts for yourself
Fourteen years of campaigns, every invoice on file.
Visit the transparency page →