Murrieta girls start early to help others

By: GARY BASS - For The Californian | Friday, June 23, 2006 11:37 PM PDT ∞

MURRIETA ---- Three Murrieta girls are proof positive that there isn't a minimum age limit for community service.

Together, Marrissa Leon, 10, Tori Maldonado, 10, and Brietta Maldonado, 12, raised more than $100 for the Inland Valley Habitat for Humanity by selling snacks at local soccer games.

"They're having the best time with this," said Tammy Marine, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley. "It's the coolest thing to see young people helping out like this.

"They have a real spark for helping people, and I know without a doubt that these girls are going to be the community leaders of tomorrow."

Next-door neighbors and good friends for almost two years, Marrissa and the Maldonado sisters set up a table at the park near their homes on Newcastle Road during the spring and sold snacks at league soccer games to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for people who can't otherwise afford them. Now that soccer has wrapped up for the year, Marrissa said they are brainstorming new ways of raising money.

The three girls used the funds they have raised to put together a variety of gift baskets, five of which were presented earlier this month at a ground breaking ceremony to the five families who were selected to live in the new homes, which will be built on Pujol Street in Old Town Temecula.

Marrissa said each of the baskets included cameras, photo albums, seeds "so that the families can plant their own gardens" and paint color swatches to help in the interior design of the new homes.

The three girls also put together "Bob the Builder" baskets with videos of the popular cartoon character and building blocks. Those baskets were sent to various local organizations to "get the word out" about Habitat for Humanity.

Plus, the girls assembled a "Beach Basket" that was raffled off at the golf tournament the charity organization held Monday at the Temecula Creek Inn, Marine said.

When asked what she has enjoyed the most about volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, Marrissa said, "I've really enjoyed being able to help the families that are going to get new houses."

Echoing her best friend's thoughts, Tori said the best part of their experience has been "helping people." Brietta said that hanging out with her sister and Marrissa as they sold snacks has been fun. She added that she also has enjoyed going to the store to pick out the items for the gift baskets.

It all started a few months back when Marrissa considered selling snow cones to make Easter baskets for less-fortunate children. Seeing that her daughter really wanted to give something back to the community, her mother called Habitat for Humanity and asked if there was any way that Marrissa could help the organization. In turn, Marrissa asked the Maldonado sisters if they would be willing to assist her.

"Those three girls are always so excited when they come in to help," Marine said. "You can tell that what they're doing is coming from the heart, and that they're doing it for the right reasons."

To date, Habitat for Humanity has built a total of six homes for Inland Valley families, Marine said. She said the project on Pujol Street will be a massive undertaking because they will be building five homes at the same time, using mostly volunteer labor and materials. Marine said they hope to have all five finished by the end of the year.

"They're amazing families, and they're all very deserving of our assistance," Marine said.