by Brooke Ezzo | photos courtesy of Claudia Roman
T
here 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 fires that destroyed more than 5.6 million acres in the Bolivian Amazon, Juliana became motivated to create a relief fund aimed to help recover the habitat of all affected animals. “My family is from Bolivia, so when I found out, I was really sad,” Juliana said. “I really like nature, and the fires destroyed the forests, and a lot of animals were forced out “IT WAS of their homes.” Juliana symbolically named her fundraising project, Phoenix, wanting to help the lost animals resurface from the ashes.
“I like reworking dolls, I clean them up and then sell them,” Juliana said. “I put in new hair, remove the stains, and repaint them. I’ve sold around 13 dolls.” Juliana added, “I have a lot of supplies to fix dolls. I get raggedy dolls from thrift stores and then fix them up. Then I would sell them to friends and neighbors.”
A BIG PROJECT, AND IT IS INCREDIBLE AND VERY SATISFACTORY THAT YOUR MONEY CAN HELP FEED THAT MANY PEOPLE,” CLAUDIA SAID
She has always had a love for arts and crafts, and when she found an old doll on the playground at school, she came up with the idea to sell restored dolls as a way to fundraise. 50 | LANTANA LIVING | NOVEMBER 2020
Those dolls and other fundraising initiatives earned her well over $1,000, and her family graciously matched the raised amount, giving Juliana $3,000 to donate to the relief efforts.
Unfortunately, by the time Juliana was ready to donate, the global pandemic had made its way around the world. She was aware of the financial impact the coronavirus was 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 www.LantanaLiving.com
