Bountiful boy helps clothe poor children

BOUNTIFUL — When Trevor Montrone was 5 years old, he went on a dune buggy tour deep into the jungle of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

There, he saw some little boys playing ball with rocks.

They didn't have shirts on. They didn't have shoes on.

That's when the Bountiful native gave one of the boys his Spider-Man T-shirt.

"The kid was really happy, smiling ear to ear, and he went and showed it to all of his friends that were playing with him and then he went inside and showed it to his mom," said Trevor, now 7 years old. "He was really happy."

The memory of how that child reacted prompted Trevor to organize a charity project before going to Mexico again this year with his family. Trevor got all three second-grade classes at Muir Elementary School in Bountiful involved in a T-shirt drive to help needy Mexican children.

"I thought about what I did last time I went to Mexico, and I thought they would really like it so I just went to my school and asked them if they would do a T-shirt drive for me so I could give them some T-shirts," he said.

The drive started the first part of March, and Trevor made donating fun for his classmates by giving each student who brought a T-shirt a sucker. The students also got to color a miniature T-shirt on a poster Trevor made and sign their initials next to it.

"They said it was kind of fun to do it and stuff like that," Trevor said.

Also, each student who donated could put his or her name in a drawing for a $30 Target gift card.

By the end of the drive Trevor had a large duffle bag filled with 60 new T-shirts ready to take on his trip. He and his family left for Puerto Vallarta April 11.

During the trip, the family took another dune buggy ride and stopped by a muddy river where Mexican mothers wash their clothes. Across the river several children were playing in the water. The dune buggy tour guide called for the children to cross the river.

Katy Montrone, Trevor's mother, said the rush of children was a little overwhelming.

"You anticipate you're going to hand them out, but here they all were, and they were so excited," she said. "It was cool."

Katy said the children would get a T-shirt and then hold it up to show the others.