Interactive
What $25 Buys on a Medical Mission Trip (Build the Trunk Yourself)
Twenty-five dollars is 41 pairs of reading glasses, ten Bibles, or eight hygiene kits at Don Nichols' real prices. Pick a budget, tap what goes in the trunk, then make it real.
People underestimate twenty-five dollars because they have never seen a mission price list. Don Nichols publishes his. At the prices he actually pays, $25 is 41 reading glasses, or 25 sunglasses, or 10 bible. Here is the whole comparison, then a trunk you can pack yourself.
What $25 buys, item by item
The same twenty-five dollars, six different ways
Show as a table
| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Glasses | 41 | $0.60 each |
| Sunglasses | 25 | $1 each |
| Bible | 10 | $2.50 each |
| Hygiene Kit | 8 | $3 each |
| Ministry Trunk | 1 | $25 each |
| Customs & Contingency Share | 1 | $25 each |
Pack it yourself
Pick a budget, tap items into the trunk, and watch what fits. When you like what you see, the button opens PayPal with your exact trunk in the item name — so the picture you built is the gift that arrives.
Build your trunk
Pick a budget. Tap what goes in.
Every price is from Don’s published budget. Everything in the trunk is handed to someone free of charge.
Bible
$2.50 each
Hygiene Kit
$3 each
Reading Glasses
$0.60 each
Sunglasses
$1 each
Tract bundle
$60 each
Pastor gift set
$100 each
Ministry Trunk
$25 each
Baggage fee
$200 each
Customs share
$25 each
In your trunk
Nothing yet. Tap + on anything above, or “Fill” to spend it all on one thing.
PayPal opens with your exact trunk in the item name. Choose one-time or monthly there. Goes to the next trip.
See what your trunk becomes.
Leave your name and number and Don and Patti will send photographs from the trip your trunk goes on.
Why sixty cents is the most-remembered gift
“A simple pair of reading glasses can enable someone to read again, sew clothing, study God's Word, complete paperwork, or continue earning a living.”
Glasses are sorted by prescription before the trip and laid out in rows on a table. A person holds a page of printed text at the distance that works for them, and the pair that matches goes home with them — free, like everything else on the table.
$0.60 eachMake it real
Sixty cents. One pair.
$0.60 is a pair of reading glasses sorted, carried to Belize, and fitted at the table in that photograph. Twenty-five dollars is forty-one of them.
Secure PayPal — card, bank, or balance.
What a hygiene kit is worth
“It isn't expensive. But to a family with limited access to these everyday items, it is a meaningful gift — a practical reminder that someone they have never met cared enough to help, and an open door to conversation, prayer, and the love of Christ.”
Keep going
Questions people ask
- What does $25 buy on a medical mission trip?
- At Don Nichols' published prices: 41 reading glasses, 25 sunglasses, 10 bible, 8 hygiene kit, 1 ministry trunk, 1 customs & contingency share. Every item is handed to someone in Belize free of charge.
- Can I choose exactly what my $25 buys?
- Yes. The trunk builder on this page and the Fill the Trunks page both open PayPal with your chosen items and quantity in the item name.
- Do small gifts actually matter?
- The cheapest line on Don's budget — reading glasses at $0.60 — is the one he keeps coming back to when he describes what a trip does. Three hundred pairs cost $180.
Pass the numbers on.
Most people have never seen what a mission trip actually costs. One share puts this in front of somebody who will give because they finally can see it.
More by the numbers
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Most ministries answer "where does my donation go" with a pie chart of percentages. This one answers with a receipt: every line of a $3,940 medical mission supply drive, charted, with nothing held back for overhead.
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The record2013 to 2026: Thirteen Years of Mission Trips, in Charts
13 mission trips across 5 countries since 2013, the three years they could not go, and 509 photographs — Don Nichols' own timeline, charted.
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GivingThe Math of Monthly Giving: What $25 a Month Does in a Year
Twelve months of $25 is 120 Bibles at Don Nichols' real price, or one missionary sponsored in 48 months. Drag the slider and see what your monthly gift becomes.
OpenGuides, tools, and the FAQ live on the Resources page. Every fact about the mission on them comes from what Don has published here.