News, Reflections & Happenings... A Quarterly Newsletter - La Catalina Foundationþ

Posted by La Catalina Foundation on April 1, 2009, 5:42 pm
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Hola La Manzanilla, You can also see our newsletter with pictures on our website at http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/Article.asp?id=1249078 . Thanks again, Issue 12 – Winter 2009 La Manzanilla, Jalisco, México Combined Auction Benefits Raise over 60,000 Pesos for Education! Thank you to everyone who helped make La Catalina Educational Foundation’s (LCEF’s) 5th annual “A Night under the Stars” auction & party and 2nd annual online auction a big success! This year’s “A Night under the Stars” event, held once again in La Manzanilla’s main plaza, was filled with excitement and smiling faces as people enjoyed the festive evening atmosphere, generously placed bid on a variety of donated items, savored delicious Mexican food, watched the local kids sing and dance, and enjoyed the traditional folkloric dance performances. Prior to the live auction, LCEF ran their 2nd annual online auction, offering high-end services and items up for bid, such as stays at the Grand Bay Hotel, El Tamarindo, and Blue Bay and other luxury hotels and resorts, along with a variety of other items including art and gift certificates for restaurants and spa services. The combined amount raised from these two events was 61,889 pesos. From the proceeds, a donation in the amount of 15,400 pesos was given to the public schools. The preschool will apply their portion of these funds towards completing the roof of their new veranda, providing shade over playground equipment. The primary school will use their funds for school improvement projects—one of these projects is starting the construction of a sidewalk around the school to ensure better safety of the children arriving to and departing from school. The middle school is using their donation to have proper electrical wiring installed so they can start using the new computers they received. LCEF will use another 15,400 pesos to operate their free community educational programs, and 31,089 pesos has been earmarked for the construction of the bathrooms at the Costa Alegre Educational Center. To view a complete financial summary of LCEF’s auction fundraisers, please click http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/article.asp?id=1215671 . Educational Center Blessed and Inaugurated To show their support of the continued development and construction of the Costa Alegre Educational Center, community members attended an inauguration and blessing of the Center’s first community classroom, held on Sunday, March 8th. The blessing of the building was performed by the town’s beloved priest, Father Lugo, who also shared some words on the importance of education in society and thanked LCEF for the role it is playing. Food was donated for the event and “Birria” (a traditional favorite beef stew) was served, fresh and hot! Ejido board members, teachers, children, LCEF staff and volunteers and various other community members came out to attend the event. Currently LCEF has raised over $50,500 pesos for the construction of the bathrooms but we are still short an estimated $60,000 pesos. Help LCEF meet their goal of raising the required funds to construct the bathrooms in time for the summer camp for the Mexican children beginning in July 2009! Make a contribution today by clicking http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/Article.asp?id=542268 ! Health Workshop held at Middle School for Community – over 200 glasses and hundreds of dental supplies distributed In an effort to support the schools and the community of La Manzanilla, LCEF hosted a health day at the middle school, open to students and community members. The line up for the day included sessions taught by Ophthalmologist, Dr. Jane Collis-Geers; Nutritionist, Amanda Weynand; and a local dentist, Dr. Carolina Ramirez. During the day, over 200 pairs of glasses were donated to teachers, students and community members. Every student also received dental hygiene products and nutritional information. A big thanks goes out to Heidi Erickson for providing the glasses, Jane Roach for providing dental supplies, Julie Liotta and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for providing the dental supplies and nutritional information and Jane Collis-Gears, Carolina, and Amanda for donating their time and sharing their knowledge of health issues with the community of La Manzanilla. Animal Education Offered to Children of La Manzanilla The children who attend LCEF’s free educational after school programs were lucky to receive some very special visitors to their classroom! Our local veterinarian Rocio Tapia Amezcua, local resident Kate Fisher, and a few fluffy friends showed up to spend the afternoon with the children and teach them about how to take care of animals and pets. The children learned how to groom, clean and properly feed their pets. The children were also given information to send home about Cisco’s Amigo’s free clinics for any pets in need of help. Sad Goodbyes but Happy Beginnings LCEF is sad to see the departure of Elisa de la Peña, who dedicated the last 6 months as a volunteer teacher for the Foundation. She will be missed dearly by the children of the community as she brought them lots of joy, laughter and learning during her time here. We are happy, however, about the arrival of our newest volunteer teacher, Shanna McClarnon, from Oklahoma. Shanna comes to us with lots of enthusiasm and experience with children and with non-profits. A BIG THANK YOU TO SOME OF OUR SUPPORTERS… This quarter, we want to give thanks to the following part-time residents, visitors and friends of La Manzanilla who donated supplies and program materials or contributed to the foundation and public schools: Gary Ockenden, Jonathan Hilton, Zoe Donaldson, Tim & Ann Edwards, Katie Leach & family, Mark & Brenda Davis, Petra Hartt, Heidi Erickson, Ian & Ann Lindsay, Christina deRoos, Carolyn & Roger deRoos, Stephanie & Patrick, Julie Freisen, Marcia Groethe, Judith Williamson & Wayne Smith, Jeff , Tracy Lovell, Carrie Saxifrage, Duane & Cheryl Chaves, Jim & Susan Farrell, Doug Scott, Rosalind Russell, Larry Segall, Tia Richardson, Silver Mangini, Donna Radford, Gabriela de la Vega, Sandra Sebastian-Lee & Bernie, and all of the generous people who donated items for the 5th annual auction fundraiser. Click here for list of auction donors. http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/article.asp?id=1215685 The foundation, schools and children of La Manzanilla say, “Gracias!” In Other News: The elementary school in La Manzanilla is in dire need of a functioning printer or color ink cartridges for a HP DeskJet 920cse. Please contact us if you can help! Dental hygiene classes being planned for the preschool students in La Manzanilla. More news to come on this program in our next newsletter edition! Would you like to sponsor a disadvantaged student from La Manzanilla, so he or she may receive the gift of continuing on to high school? Click http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/Article.asp?id=115235 to find out about becoming a Wings sponsor for the 2009-10 academic year!

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