By Tim Fitzgerald – Maple Ridge News
The devastation from the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck just miles southeast of Mexico City on Sept. 19 has prompted a response from a trio of exchange students at Maple Ridge Secondary School.
Grade 12 student’s Ricardo Colón and Pedro Hernández, along with Grade 11 classmate Palmela Oliver left their homes in Mexico just more than a month ago to move to Maple Ridge for the start of the new school year. But the tragic events of two earthquakes in the span of two weeks have the students thinking as much about their homeland as they do their own studies.
“I really wanted to do something,” said Colón. “I felt something in my heart. I’m far away from home and not able to do anything, but then I thought I could start to fundraise.”