History
Mike Slaight was a giving person
from the very early years of his life. One day, when Mike was in
the third grade, he came home without his jacket. When his
mother,
Virginia, asked him what happened, he said "there was a new kid at
school today who didn't have a jacket. So I took
mine off and gave it to him."
In 1987, Mike was a member of Sachse Christian Church in Sachse,
Texas. He was looking for a way to get more involved in the
church and charitable organizations and contacted the area minister,
Reverend Bob Stewart, who told him about the Reverend Feliberto Pereira
in the Rio Grande Valley. Reverend Feliberto Pereira, himself a
political refugee from Cuba, was the minister of a small church in Los
Fresnos, Texas, Iglesia Christiana Ebenezer. Mike called Rev.
Pereira who told him the need for clothes and toys for the refugees he
was helping and the need for toys for displaced children at a small
orphanage just across the border in Mexico.
That winter, Mike with his wife, Samanthia, and young son, Mark, made
the first trip in their van to the Valley delivering gifts that had
been collected from church members, family, and friends, to Rev.
Pereira for distribution to the refugees, the needy, and the
orphans. Mike then asked Rev. Pereira what else was needed who
answered "shoes." Without hesitation, Mike began to take off his
size 13 shoes. but Rev. Pereira laughed and said they needed much
smaller sizes. Over the next few years, Mike continued to
coordinate trips to the Valley to deliver clothes in toys.
Mike passed away in the summer of 1990. His father, Hank Slaight,
continued the project with the same intensity. Through the
tireless effort of Hank, Mike's Kids (as it soon became known) grew in
the number of churches participating and the amount of clothes and toys
being delivered.
Banana boxes took on a new meaning when Mike and Hank started the
yearly collection of toys and clothing. In September of each
year, many local grocery stores are contacted and asked to save their
empty banana boxes for them. The banana boxes are then
distributed to the churches in the North Texas Area. People are
asked to fill the boxes with new or "gently used" toys and
clothing. In December of 2003, over 1,600 boxes were filled and
carried to the Valley in a 53' 18-wheel semi truck and trailer.
The trailer was filled from top to bottom with food or large toys in
the remaining spaces.
In October 2003, Hank Slaight passed away. His grandson (Mike's
son) now coordinates the Mike's Kids project along with tremendous help
from his sister, Christina Gill, and longtime family friend, Marvin
Carter and his wife Treena, not to mention the countless other tireless
volunteers and local minsters.
For over 15 years toys and clothing has been collected and
dispersed. From a loaded van to a full semi trailer, people from
many denominations and churches now know about Mike's Kids and share
the same concern for the "poorest of the poor."
For more information on the Reverend Feliberto Pereira and the
Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries please visit www.swgsm.org.
Return to Home Page