A unique collection drive is now underway to help Dallas students heading off to college in the fall.
The goal is to ensure they arrive on campus: luggage in hand.
There is a very personal story behind the organizer’s effort.
In far southern Dallas, Adan Gonzalez spends his days unpacking in his living room.
Delivery boxes are lined up near the door, inside them are brand new suitcases.
Gonzalez remembers when he was 18-years-old on his way to Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
He was the first in his migrant family to attend college.
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"As I arrived at the airport I remember my mom giving me a rosary, my dad his only hundred bucks (felts like gold) but I didn't have enough for the luggage fee," he said.
Gonzalez said they were forced to pack his belongings in trash bags.
When he arrived on the Ivy League campus, Gonzalez was unaware that his full scholarship did not include bedding.
He went into his dorm room and found only a bed and mattress.
The lessons came quickly.
"I closed my eyes and said 'God, I know it's going to be a difficult journey. Just help me make it and one day I want to help others,'" he said.
The Oak Cliff native would keep his promise after also graduating from Harvard and continuing his studies at Columbia.
In recent years, Gonzalez started the non-profit Puede Network.
Through the organization, he has offered soccer and boxing programs for neighborhood kids.
Gonzalez also taught in a Dallas school.
He is now organizing the luggage drive for the seventh year in a row.
"I'm not a millionaire, but I have a voice and I can organize people," Gonzalez said. "How about organizing people to donate luggage where kids can carry their dreams?"
Gonzalez hopes to collect nearly 300 luggage sets and bedding for Dallas students going off to college and living in dorms in the fall.
It's a simple gesture he also hopes carries them back home.
"Sometimes we're so eager to leave that I'm trying to do my part to encourage them to come back and help others," he said. "I think a suitcase symbolizes someone believes in you, that someone wants you to be prepared and feel confident as you approach your dreams."
Puede Network is accepting new luggage sets and monetary donations.
For more information: puedenetwork.com or email adangonzalez@puedenetwork.com
