Hello,

My name is Dylan Howard. I am a freshman at Washington State University. I grew up in Kennewick my entire life and graduated from Kamiakin High School in June of 2025. When I was still living in Kennewick I attended 5:30pm mass every Sunday from around 4th grade.

At WSU I have been blessed to find a wonderful Catholic community at the Newman Center on campus, Saint Thomas More. Over the last four months I have been able to really get to know the missionaries on campus. In October I was asked by one of the second year missionaries, Max Karas, if I would be interested in serving in Trujillo, Honduras over Spring Break. Something came across my heart to jump at this opportunity, so I did.

I am planning on serving at La Finca in Trujillo, Honduras from March 21-29 of 2026 with 10 other students and 2 missionaries from WSU. La Finca is an orphanage for children from abusive, neglectful, and traumatic households. Tias, “aunt”, along with local residents serve at La Finca to ensure the children are properly taken care of. On the grounds there is a school and a clinic. The school and clinic aren’t just for children of La Finca but also for the surrounding towns.

At La Finca our main goal would be to create a positive relationship with the children. Most of them don’t have a positive representation of adults and feel comfortable with new people because of their traumatic pasts. We would also be helping in the classroom: gym, math, english, and any projects around La Finca: painting, replacing floors, fences.

With this I need your help. As you can imagine it isn’t cheap to fly out of the United States. My goal is to raise $2100 dollars, any help towards that goal is extremely appreciated. And if I go over that goal, the money will go to supporting my fellow students going on the trip.

If you have any questions please contact me, I will also be home, Kennewick, for winter break from December 12th to January 9th and I would love to talk in person.

Thank you, Merry Christmas, and God bless,

Dylan Howard