Salt Lake City Deseret News, UT
The image will forever be burned into Brooks Dame's memory: A dark-haired boy of about 5 or 6 years in age scrambles across a garbage heap, eager to show off his most precious find. Standing barefoot in smelly trash that comes up to his knees, he proudly smiles for the camera and unfurls a soiled American flag.
"As soon as he showed me that flag," recalls Brooks, "it was like a sign that something had to be done. I knew at that moment that Cristi and I had to help these people find a better life."
This afternoon, Brooks and Cristi Dame will not be sitting down for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends in Salt Lake City. Instead, they'll be dishing up pan con pavo (chicken with dressing) and tamales next to a garbage dump in El Salvador that is home to about 400 people.
The Holladay couple arrived in the country for another visit last week, bringing along a semitruck loaded with more than 6,000 pairs of shoes. The boy who found the flag will get a pair, as will dozens of others who make $1 a day recycling cans and bottles they find at the dump.
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