Ana Dodson was adopted when she was 3 and was raised in Colorado. Yet, a part of her still onged for her Peruvian heritage.

Her parent’s recognized this and took her back when she was 11. What she saw in her old homeland and orphanage changed Ana. There was extreme poverty everywhere, and she knew she had to do so much more than just distribute the teddy bears that she and her mother had bought for the orphans.

When she got back home, she started collecting supplies to send to the children. She also got her Spanish class involved in a Pen pal system with the girls from the orphanage.

Through so many more fundraising events, Ana established Peruvian hearts- a non-profit organization whose goal is to help orphans in Peru.

Today, Peruvian Hearts has a scholarship program that helps pay for uniforms, school fees and supplies for the girls. They even have a college scholarship. They’ve also branched out to lunch programs which feed the kids, and a library project, which sends books to Peru.

Peruvian Hearts, in its 4 years, has given over $100,000 in assistance.

That’s a lot of heart from one little person!