Jefferson Award Winner Delivers Care And Comfort To Migrants On The Move
BELMONT (KPIX) A Bay Area teen is mobilizing neighbors and strangers to extend a humanitarian helping hand to migrant children. This week's Jefferson Award winner was inspired by a film she saw at her San Francisco high school.
Julia Tognotti watched a documentary in Spanish class last spring that changed her life. In the film "Which Way Home" migrant Central American children escape poverty and violence by taking the dangerous trek alone across the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Something really hit me and made me want to make a difference," Tognotti explained.
The 17-year-old senior at St. Ignatius College Prep began to collect clothes and toiletries and send them to the Kino Border Initiative in Arizona, a ministry to refugees on either side of the US-Mexico border. She's shipped thousands of items from her Belmont home.
She and her father even took a summer trip to Nogales, Mexico to give young people donations face-to-face.
"Hearing their stories put it into perspective why they wanted to come to America," Tognotti remembered.
Spanish teacher Joe Bommarito is thrilled the film he showed in class sparked her giving spirit.
"She wants to do something and has the desire to change a system that is broken," Bommarito said.
Tognotti says her mission is humanitarian, not political. Still, she gets criticism on social media.
"There've been a lot of comments, 'Why aren't you helping people in the U.S.?'" she said. "Having been down there, and giving the shirts and shoes to people, and seeing how grateful they were and how much they needed it, is what keeps me sending donations down today. Because I've seen it."
Norma Gomez looked for a way to help the migrant children, and brought donations to Tognotti's home.
"I was impressed by this young lady's commitment," Gomez said. "I think it's amazing. She's my new hero."
Tognotti also volunteers at the food bank, pet shelter, and she helps disabled children and veterans with horse therapy. She eventually wants to work for the United Nations in humanitarian aid and emergency relief. In the meantime, she's in talks with one of the Bay Area's professional sports teams to do a clothing drive.
So for everything she does, especially providing humanitarian aid to undocumented young people, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Julia Tognotti.
To learn more or donate, get in touch with Julia's Journey for Others online.