Families Helping Families

Dear Friends, Supporters and Volunteers of FHF Mexico, Inc.,

Christmas will be here soon and it is time to prepare for FHF’s annual house building project in Rocky Point, Mexico. This will be our 15th year!

Because Christmas is on Wednesday this year, the construction portion of the Christmas 2019 house building project in Rocky Point will begin on Thursday morning, December 26, 2019 and continue through Saturday, December 28, 2019.

We are working on the details for a Christmas Day afternoon service opportunity as well as a Family-to-Family event and our yearly Fiesta. We will let you know more about these events later.

If we utilize all of our tools, equipment and scaffolding, we have the capacity to build four (4) houses at the same time from December 26‑28. Many families have already contacted us to express interest in contributing financially and working on the project this year. In an effort to be fair to those that want to participate, we will accept volunteers that desire to participate in the order in which the financial contributions are received and volunteer worker commitments are made.

We have learned that the ideal number of people working on one house is 40-50 and that the cost to build one house is about $35,000-$40,000. Assuming that each group or family has an average of 5 workers, that would mean we would have approximately 10 groups or families on each house. Consequently, in order to raise enough money to construct one house, each group or family should donate $3,750 or $750 per person so that we will have enough money to completely finish each of the houses. We do not want to start work on a house if there is not enough money available to complete the entire house. Also, if one group or family has more than five workers, that group or family should increase its financial donation by $750 per volunteer worker so we don’t end up with a disproportionate number of volunteer workers and not enough money to complete the house.

Those volunteers that respond with a commitment for workers and send in their financial contributions will be added to this year’s list on a first come first served basis until we reach the maximum capacity. Please send your tax deductible donations, as soon as possible, by check made payable to “ FHF Mexico, Inc.” c/o Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, Arizona, 85204. We prefer that you send an old fashioned check by mail because of the expense associated with credit card or PayPal donations.

After we have the completed list of volunteers for the project, we will send an email explaining details including information about lodging, meals, what to bring, and a detailed itinerary for the week. If you are planning on joining us and do not have a passport, please begin now to obtain one. Crossing the border back into the United States is much less complicated with a passport and the U.S Border Agents will expect you to have one.

Saludos,
Ralph and Jared

Dear Friends, Supporters and Volunteers of FHF Mexico, Inc.,

We are pleased to announce that because of the generosity and hard work of all of you as volunteers and financial supporters, FHF Mexico, Inc. and its predecessor non-profit entity have completed more than 80 houses, a community cafeteria, building for down syndrome boys to build piñatas, a dental clinic and a medical clinic in Rocky Point. Thank you “y muchimas gracias!”

Because Christmas is on Tuesday this year, our construction schedule will be different from years past. We know that some of you prefer to spend Christmas morning at home with your family and then drive to Rocky Point in the afternoon; however, as you can see from the following schedule, this year Christmas Day will be very busy for all of us in Rocky Point.

The Christmas 2018 house building project in Rocky Point will begin on Monday morning, December 24, 2018 and continue through Wednesday, December 26, 2018. Please plan on arriving in Rocky Point Saturday or Sunday, December 22rd or 23rd, so you can begin work on Monday morning, December 24th. We will be working with the folks that operate the San Rafael Community Center where we have already built a an outdoor cafeteria, a house for the teacher and a medical and dental clinic. In this area, we will be building two of our typical houses that will be reconfigured for K-3 classrooms.

On Christmas morning, we will finish all the blockwork on the classrooms/houses and, in the afternoon, we will prepare and participate in celebrating a Christmas program and feed approximately 400-500 people that live in the area of San Rafael.

Wednesday we will work on and finish the roof and interior framing for the classrooms, present a house that was built during last year’s project to a family and have our volunteer Fiesta at Las Palomas. This will be a very busy and active three days.

If enough volunteers are committed to donate funds and work on houses during this time frame, we can also begin and finish the shell of two additional houses in this area.

We have the capacity to utilize all of our tools, equipment and scaffolding to build four (4) houses at the same time from December 24‑26. Many families have already contacted us to express interest in contributing financially and working on the project this year. In an effort to be fair to those that want to participate, we will accept volunteers that desire to participate in the order in which the financial contributions are received and volunteer worker commitments are made.

We have learned that the ideal number of people working on one house is 40-50 and that the cost to build one house is about $35,000. Assuming that each family has an average of 5 workers, that would mean we would have approximately 10 families on each house. Consequently, in order to raise enough money to construct one house, each family should donate $3,500 so that we will have enough money to completely finish each of the houses. We do not want to start work on a house if there is not enough money available to complete the entire house. Also, if one family has more than five workers, that family should increase its financial donation by $750 per volunteer worker so we don’t end up with a disproportionate number of volunteer workers and not enough money to complete the house.

Our goal for this year is to have 180-200 committed volunteer workers and to raise $140,000. Many volunteers have wanted to do more to help FHF Mexico, Inc. in serving our Mexican friends and neighbors. This year we would ask you to make a more generous contribution than the amount outlined above so that we can purchase additional scaffolding, planks, power tools and other equipment so that we can stage and construct 5 or 6 houses at one time in the future. Any additional financial contribution you can make would be greatly appreciated. Please send your tax deductible donations, as soon as possible, by check made payable to “ FHF Mexico, Inc.” c/o Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, Arizona, 85204. We prefer that you send an old fashioned check by mail because we are not equipped to process credit card or PayPal donations.

Those volunteers that respond with a commitment for workers and send in their financial contributions will be added to this year’s list on a first come first served basis until we reach the maximum capacity. We would love to include everyone that wants to participate, but as you can imagine, until we have enough money to buy more equipment (tools, mixers, scaffolding etc.), we can only manage four (4) houses at one time.

After we have the completed list of volunteers for the project, we will send an email explaining details including information about lodging, meals, what to bring, and a detailed itinerary for the week. If you are planning on joining us and do not have a passport, please begin now to obtain one. Crossing the border back into the United States is much less complicated with a passport and the U.S Border Agents will expect you to have one.

Saludos, Ralph

Dear Friends, Supporters and Volunteers of FHF Mexico, Inc.,

We are pleased to announce that because of the generosity and hard work of all of you as volunteers and financial supporters, FHF Mexico, Inc. and its predecessor non-profit entity have completed more than 70 houses, a community cafeteria, building for down syndrome boys to build piñatas, a dental clinic and a medical clinic in Rocky Point. Thank you “y muchimas gracias!”

December 26-28, 2017

The Christmas 2017 house building project in Rocky Point will begin on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 and continue through Thursday, December 28, 2017. We are planning a Christmas Day “Feed the Community” project. Please plan on arriving in Rocky Point Saturday or Sunday, December 23rd or 24th, so you can participate in this fabulous Christmas Day experience. We are working with the folks that operate the San Rafael Community Center where we built a cafeteria and this is a perfect place to stage this service project to feed and spend Christmas afternoon with hundreds of the wonderful people in the San Rafael area of Rocky Point. During the work week, we are also planning a “Family to Family” night when our American families can host a local Mexican family and begin to nurture international friendships.

Volunteers

We have the capacity to utilize all of our tools, equipment and scaffolding to build four (4) houses at the same time from December 26-28. Many families have already contacted us to express interest in contributing financially and working on the project this year. In an effort to be fair to those that want to participate, we will accept volunteers that desire to participate in the order in which the financial contributions are received and volunteer worker commitments are made.

We have learned that the ideal number of people working on one house is 40-50 and that the cost of land, utilities, materials and specialized construction labor after we leave for one house is about $35,000. Assuming that each family has an average of 5 workers, that would mean we would have approximately 10 families on each house. Consequently, in order to raise enough money to construct one house, each family should donate $3,500 so that we will have enough money to completely finish each of the houses. We do not want to start work on a house if there is not enough money available to complete the entire house. Also, if one family has more than five workers, that family should increase its financial donation by $750 per volunteer worker so we don’t end up with a disproportionate number of volunteer workers and not enough money to finish the house.

Our Goal

Our goal for this year is to have 180-200 committed volunteer workers and to raise $140,000. Many volunteers have wanted to do more to help FHF Mexico, Inc. in serving our Mexican friends and neighbors. This year we would ask you to make a more generous contribution than the amount outlined above because we have the opportunity to buy a larger parcel of land at a good price that will help us stay ahead of the housing demand and have lots to build on for next year. Any additional financial contribution you can make would be greatly appreciated. Please send your tax deductible donations, as soon as possible, by check made payable to “ FHF Mexico, Inc.” c/o Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, Arizona, 85204. We prefer that you send an old fashioned check by mail because we are not equipped to process credit card or PayPal donations.

Those volunteers that respond with a commitment for workers and send in their financial contributions will be added to this year’s list on a first come first served basis until we reach the maximum capacity. We would love to include everyone that wants to participate, but as you can imagine, until we have enough money to buy more equipment (tools, mixers, scaffolding etc.), we can only manage four (4) houses at one time.

After we have the completed list of volunteers for the project, we will send an email explaining details including information about lodging, meals, what to bring, and an itinerary for the week. If you are planning on joining us and do not have a passport, please begin now to obtain one. Crossing the border back into the United States is much less complicated with a passport and the U.S Border Agents will expect you to have one.

Saludos, Ralph

Dear Friends, Supporters and Volunteers of FHF Mexico, Inc.,

We are pleased to announce that because of the generosity and hard work of all of you as volunteers and financial supporters, FHF Mexico, Inc. and its predecessor non-profit entity have completed 65 houses, a community cafeteria, building for down syndrome boys to build piñatas, a dental clinic and a medical clinic in Rocky Point. Thank you “y muchimas gracias!”

The Christmas 2016 house building project in Rocky Point will begin on Monday, December 26, 2016 and continue through Thursday, December 29, 2016. It is possible that we may plan a Christmas Day “Feed the Community” project. If that happens, we will let you know so you can be there on Christmas Day to be a part of this wonderful tradition. We are working with the folks that operate the San Rafael Community Center where we built a cafeteria and this would be a perfect place to stage this service project and feed hundreds of the wonderful people in the San Rafael area of Rocky Point. We have the capacity to utilize all of our tools, equipment and scaffolding to build four (4) houses at the same time during this week. Many families have already contacted us to express interest in contributing financially and working on the project this year. In an effort to be fair to those that want to participate, we will accept volunteers that desire to participate in the order in which the financial contributions are received and volunteer worker commitments are made.

We have learned that 40-50 is the ideal number of people working on one house and that the cost of land, utilities, materials and construction for one house is about $35,000. Assuming that each family has an average of 5 workers, that would mean we would have approximately 10 families on each house. Consequently, in order to raise enough money to construct one house, each family should donate $3,500 so that we will have enough money to completely finish each of the houses. We do not want to start work on a house if there is not enough money available to complete the entire house. Also, if one family has more than five workers, that family should increase its financial donation so we don’t end up with a disproportionate number of volunteer workers and not enough money to finish the house.

Our goal for this year is to have 180-200 committed volunteer workers and to raise $140,000. Please send your tax deductible donations, as soon as possible, by check made payable to “FHF Mexico, Inc.” c/o Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, Arizona, 85204. We prefer that you send an old fashioned check by mail because we are not well equipped to process credit card or PayPal donations.

Those volunteers that respond with a commitment for workers and send in their financial contributions will be added to this year’s list on a first come first served basis until we reach the maximum capacity. We would love to include everyone that wants to participate, but as you can imagine, until we have enough money to buy more equipment (tools, mixers, scaffolding etc.), we can only manage four (4) houses at one time.

After we have the completed list of volunteers for the project, we will send an email explaining details including information about lodging, meals, what to bring, and an itinerary for the week. If you are planning on joining us and do not have a passport, please begin now to obtain one. Crossing the border back into the United States is much less complicated with a passport and the U.S. Border Agents will expect you to have one.

Saludos, Ralph

Dear Friends, Supporters and Volunteers of FHF Mexico, Inc.,

We are pleased to announce that because of the generosity and hard work of all of you as volunteers and financial supporters, FHF Mexico, Inc. and its predecessor non-profit entity have completed 65 houses, a community cafeteria, building for down syndrome boys to build piñatas, a dental clinic and a medical clinic in Rocky Point. Thank you “y muchimas gracias!”

The Christmas 2016 house building project in Rocky Point will begin on Monday, December 26, 2016 and continue through Thursday, December 29, 2016. It is possible that we may plan a Christmas Day “Feed the Community” project. If that happens, we will let you know so you can be there on Christmas Day to be a part of this wonderful tradition. We are working with the folks that operate the San Rafael Community Center where we built a cafeteria and this would be a perfect place to stage this service project and feed hundreds of the wonderful people in the San Rafael area of Rocky Point. We have the capacity to utilize all of our tools, equipment and scaffolding to build four (4) houses at the same time during this week. Many families have already contacted us to express interest in contributing financially and working on the project this year. In an effort to be fair to those that want to participate, we will accept volunteers that desire to participate in the order in which the financial contributions are received and volunteer worker commitments are made.

We have learned that 40-50 is the ideal number of people working on one house and that the cost of land, utilities, materials and construction for one house is about $35,000. Assuming that each family has an average of 5 workers, that would mean we would have approximately 10 families on each house. Consequently, in order to raise enough money to construct one house, each family should donate $3,500 so that we will have enough money to completely finish each of the houses. We do not want to start work on a house if there is not enough money available to complete the entire house. Also, if one family has more than five workers, that family should increase its financial donation so we don’t end up with a disproportionate number of volunteer workers and not enough money to finish the house.

Our goal for this year is to have 180-200 committed volunteer workers and to raise $140,000. Please send your tax deductible donations, as soon as possible, by check made payable to “ FHF Mexico, Inc.” c/o Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, Arizona, 85204. We prefer that you send an old fashioned check by mail because we are not well equipped to process credit card or PayPal donations.

Those volunteers that respond with a commitment for workers and send in their financial contributions will be added to this year’s list on a first come first served basis until we reach the maximum capacity. We would love to include everyone that wants to participate, but as you can imagine, until we have enough money to buy more equipment (tools, mixers, scaffolding etc.), we can only manage four (4) houses at one time.

After we have the completed list of volunteers for the project, we will send an email explaining details including information about lodging, meals, what to bring, and an itinerary for the week. If you are planning on joining us and do not have a passport, please begin now to obtain one. Crossing the border back into the United States is much less complicated with a passport and the U.Ss Border Agents will expect you to have one.

Saludos, Ralph

All of our friends and supporters of the Families Helping Families Rocky Point Projects:

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support of the Families Helping Families project in Rocky Point, Mexico. We hope everyone is having a great year and are making preparations for Christmas in Mexico. We have been to Rocky Point recently evaluating needs and preparing for this year’s projects. As you might expect, the needs are great and there will be plenty of work to do.

Please mark your calendars accordingly for this year’s events:

December 24, 2014: Arrive in Rocky Point
December 25, 2014: All-Hands effort to prepare and serve Christmas Day Feast for needy families
December 26, 27, 29, 30, 2014: Work on houses (note Sunday off)
December 30, 2014: LifeVantage group arrives
December 31, 2014: LifeVantage construction project begins

As we have said each year, it is helpful for us in the planning to know how many people are coming with you and how much money you will donate. The amount of money donated and the total number of volunteers available will determine the scope of this year’s project. Please let us know by October 15, 2014, the answers to these two (2) questions:

1. How many working volunteers will be in your group?
2. How much money will your family/group donate?

On the topic of finances, we suggest a donation between $3,000 and $3,500 per family or $750 to $1,000 for individuals. Please keep in mind that it takes approximately $28,000 to acquire the land and build a house; we need all of the financial support possible. So that we can get an early start on foundation construction, we ask you to make your financial contribution prior to October 31, 2014. You can do so by sending a check payable to:

FHF Mexico, Inc.
c/o Ralph Pew
1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217
Mesa, AZ 85204

After we receive your responses and financial commitments, we will be back in touch with you about details regarding safety, accommodations, tools, passports, releases and answers to frequently asked questions. Please recognize that in order to properly plan the logistics, staging, and workload for our volunteers, we will accommodate/assign those desiring to participate based on the order in which we receive your labor commitment and financial contribution.

Saludos! Ralph

To All Friends and Volunteers

Thanks to many of you, the 2013 Christmas house building project is well under way. Jared and I have authorized construction work to begin on the foundations for two houses and we are going to Rocky Point next weekend to make final arrangements and purchase materials. We have decided on one of the recipient families and are still considering others. We will let you know more about that later.

DATES

Wednesday, December 25, 2013: Christmas Day “Feed the Families” project
Thursday, Friday, Saturday – December 26, 27, 28, 2013: House building work project
Monday, December 30, 2013: Finish work on houses, if necessary

FUNDRAISING

As of today, we have received commitments for approximately $35,000 in donations and 70 workers. Based on this contribution amount and having confidence that the rest of you will make your contributions soon, we have committed to building two (2) houses this year. This means we need to raise at least $20,000 more within the next couple of weeks. If you haven’t already done so, please send your contribution check to “FHF MEXICO, INC.” and mail it in care of Ralph Pew, 1744 South Val Vista Drive, Suite 217, Mesa, AZ 85204. If more money is donated and more workers volunteer, we have enough capacity to do three (3) houses so there is plenty of room for all who want to help.

THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS PROJECTS

Each year volunteers ask us what they can bring or what else they can do to help while we are all in Mexico. This year we have two very special Christmas Projects that we hope to complete while we are all in Mexico.

1. CHRISTMAS HOUSE

We will deliver one of the houses that is now completed to a family during one of the afternoons of the work project. This family and the house need everything except clothes. In the next few weeks, we will send a link with a sign-up sheet so you can review the list and designate what you will bring or buy in Mexico to contribute to make the “house” a “home.” This is always a great opportunity to experience the happiness and joy that comes to a recipient family.

2. CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR ROCKY POINT FAMILIES

For those that will be in Puerto Peñasco on Christmas Day, we are organizing a street cookout for the people that live in makeshift shacks in remote parts of Rocky Point. Please let us know if you will be there and would be willing to participate. Please respond to this e-mail to let us know if you will be available for the Christmas Day “Feeding the Families” project. This effort to feed hundreds of people in the community on Christmas Day is a favorite event for those that have participated in the past and a great way to really experience Christmas.

Because the Mexican government and border agents have now made it more difficult to bring certain food products (especially meat) into the country, we are organizing this effort by focusing on a meal we can prepare from food purchased in Mexico. After we have an accurate count of how many of you will be in Rocky Point on Christmas Day and want to participate, we will send a list of assigned food items, quantities and when/where we will organize for this wonderful event.

Click Here For Participation Details

Christmas 2012…..It’s almost time to go!

(PLEASE READ THIS AND PASS IT ON TO OTHERS THAT ARE GOING)
We have just returned from Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Everything is just about ready. These are you last minute instructions.

We have 3 goals for this year.

Goal #1: Raise the money for, and build three homes, while having a great time!
Locals are currently pouring the foundations for three homes in two different areas of Town. Two houses will be next to each other on the west side of Town near the cardboard mall and one house on the east side near the cemetery.

By the time we arrive, in less than two weeks, the foundations will have been completed and one row of block will have been laid. During the 4 days that we will be working, we will block up the walls, frame the roofs and the interior walls, and apply the rolled roofing.  After we leave, local workers will be hired to install windows, doors, insulation and drywall, tile and cabinets. They will be paid from the money we have all donated. If everyone either sends in what they have committed to donate, or sends in a donation if they haven’t committed, we should have just enough to complete three houses. (We are anticipating receiving approximately another $20,000 in donations.)
To make sure we are having a great time, we will work long hours, in perfect weather and meet a lot of new friends.
Wednesday morning Dec 26th before we start the work, we will all meet for a quick orientation meeting at the local LDS Church at 8:00 am.  The Church building is easy to find.  It is across the street from the TELMEX office where the large and highly visible telephone transmission tower is located Downtown.
Thursday Dec 27th meet at the job sites at 8 am and start work. At noon we will all get together for a taco lunch at the construction site of the two houses near the cardboard mall. During lunch we will present a house to a wonderful little family. You will not want to miss this. (please read further)
Thursday night is our Fiesta Night. This is optional. We will gather at the Mare Blu restaurant 7:30pm and enjoy the evening.  The cost is $15 per person including  the live Mariachi band and great food. Please let us know at the Wednesday meeting if you will attend. Every year this is a lot of fun!
Friday and Saturday the 28th and 29th met at the jobsites at 8 a.m. and we will work until we reach our building goal.

Goal #2- Giving occupancy of last year’s homes to two wonderful families.
This is a bonus. We have never done this during a Christmas week building project, but we are very excited about it. Here we go!
Fuentes Family –

Edith Fuentes has 6 children ages 19 – 6. Although her 3 young boys have helped with multiple houses ( I think “helped” is the right word) this family has no idea they will be receiving a house this year. They live in such deplorable conditions that they have nothing to bring with them to the house. In our last e-mail we shared a link so that volunteers could sign up to bring household items for this  family if they so desired. To our excitement and amazement, volunteers have signed up to bring or purchase almost every item on the list. “IF” you want to help, here is the link.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Apdd8H4H2OyydGc4dkxpTWFkS2JOdlUzeXh0SW1NSUE#gid=0

During the workday of Wednesday and up until noon on Thursday, anyone that wants to, can help set up the Fuentes house with the household donations. On Dec 27th at our taco lunch, we will surprise this family and present them with the house. We are not sure how this will work but we hope it will be amazing.

The Lopez Family has been in our program for years and Sr. Lopez has worked on many of the houses with us to acquire his volunteer hours necessary to qualify for a home. The family is currently living next to the railroad tracks in a little shack. They will also be moving into their new home during the week we are there. Like the Fuentes family, they have very little that they can bring with them to their new house. We did not create a list of needed items for this family because we did not want to overwhelm any of you.  But, as an optional activity, anyone that wants to, can help by purchasing and donating or having a group of volunteers go shopping to help this family. We will organize this at our Wednesday morning meeting.

Goal #3- Christmas day lunch for people living next to the Railroad Tracks.  This is Optional!

For anyone that will be in Puerto Penasco on Christmas Day, and would care to help, we are planning to provide a dinner for some of the people living in shacks along the railroad tracks. This will start at 3 pm on Christmas Day. The group from Cedar City, Utah under the direction of Robert Cox is bringing six turkeys to highlight the menu. Julio Valenzuela and Don Julio’s Restaurant will provide gravy and potatoes. We will also buy and cook hot dogs, buns and anything else we can think of to serve these wonderful people on Christmas Day and to make it memorable.

This is the first time we have tried to do this activity as well, but we are very excited to share this. There will be a short Christmas message and prayer before we serve lunch. We hope that Sr. Lopez will lead the way on this but if not, Ralph will deliver the meaning of Christmas thought to the neighbors. Please email us at [email protected] if you would like to help or participate with this event.

THINGS NOT TO FORGET!

Don’t forget we will be in Mexico- nothing will go exactly as expected or planned. Keep calm and carry on.

Don’t forget to be nice. We are all volunteering and we want everyone to have a fabulously, great experience. We are also serving each other.

Be very careful. If you don’t know how to do something, please ask. I know you know this, but, Mexico does not have the same medical care as the U.S. please be very careful.

Don’t forget to wear safety glasses and bring gloves to work. The inexpensive fabric gloves with plastic dots on them, from Home Depot, are the best. Bring multiple pairs for each worker. There is NOT a Home Depot there.

Do not forget to wear good work shoes.

Don’t forget your passports.

Do not bring guns, they are against the law in Mexico. (Unless you are in the Mexican Military)

You will get dirty.

You will get thirsty.

You will need sun screen.

You will need a hat.

It will be cool in the mornings and the evenings.

You will work hard but…..

You will have a great time.

To All Friends and Volunteers:

Many great things have happened this year and we are very excited about the future of “FHF Mexico, Inc.”

We are pleased to announce three (3) important items of information:

1.              We have received official notice from the I.R.S. recognizing “FHF Mexico, Inc.” as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization declaring all donations to FHF Mexico, Inc. as tax deductible.  This letter will be posted on our website at www.fhfmexico.org.

2.              Our Mexican non-profit corporation known as “Casas Perpetuales Parker A.C.” has been formed and is now recognized by the Mexican government.  This Mexican corporation will hold legal title to the houses until final disposition is determined.  It also enabled us to open an official checking account in Mexico.

3.              Since last Christmas, we started and have completed 6 wonderful homes in Puerto Peñasco and completely remodeled and added onto an existing home for a Mexican couple who were blessed with quadruplets this summer.

2012 Christmas Project

Work Dates:  Work on Project – December 26-31, 2012

Financial and Volunteer Hours Goals

• ·                Raise $80,000
• ·                150 workers, 4 days, 8 hours per day
• ·                Complete block walls, interior framing and roof on 3 houses

Preparation Dates

November 1, 2012

Please let me know by November 1, 2012, four important items:

1.              How many workers you will have in Mexico;

2.              When you will arrive

3.              How long you will stay; and

4.              The amount of money you will contribute.  (A good suggestion would be $1,000 per person or $3,500 per family.)

There are absolutely no administrative costs expended from your donations to FHF Mexico, Inc.  The number of houses we build is determined by the amount of money raised.  Please consider donating money or accommodations even if you are unable to physically be in Rocky Point this year.

November 15, 2012

On November 15, 2012, we will determine the total donations received and the number of volunteers committed and, based on this information, enter into a contract with a local concrete contractor to prepare the footings, foundations and septic systems prior to our arrival at Christmas.  Material orders will also be placed at this time for block and framing supplies.  Unlike in years past, this year we will not make commitments and sign contracts for materials and preliminary work based on the hope that financial contributions will ultimately come in.  We will only make these commitments based on the funds we actually have as of November 15, 2012.  Those individuals that respond and commit to work and that have made a financial contribution will receive a follow-up e-mail informing them of the other groups traveling to Puerto Peñasco along with travel plans so those that want to can organize themselves and travel in groups.  This follow-up e-mail will also include a list of small tools and other items individuals can bring for working and to donate for use in future years along with any last minute information.

For those that respond and commit financially and physically to the 2012 Christmas Project, we will provide follow-up details regarding safety, travel tips, accommodations, passports, etc.

Please forward this e-mail to friends and family members that may have an interest in participating (financially, physically or both) in the project.

We look forward to your timely responses and to working with you in this great cause, this Christmas of 2012.

If you have any questions, please call or e-mail us.

W. Ralph Pew

480-461-4670 (office)

602-432-2329 (cell)

[email protected]

T. Jared Parker

801-860-8686

[email protected]

Friends, Volunteers and Supporters of Families Helping Families, Rocky Point, Mexico:

Thank you very much to those who have responded and provided details on participation and financial contribution to this year’s project.  For the rest of you, please take the time to let us know if you are planning on participating physically and financially in the Christmas project.

November 15^th is fast approaching and that is the date by which Jared and I need to make final arrangements for the work in Mexico this year.  Many of you are long-time, faithful, returning participants and may be assuming that Jared and I know that you will be there.  However, please take a minute and send me an e-mail about your participation.  Many of you have called Jared and me to let us know you plan on attending in December.  Unfortunately, Jared and I do not remember every phone call and the most important communication about this is to send an e-mail to my office so that Kim Shreeve and I can keep track on our matrix of workers and money.

Thanks again for all your support and please take a minute to confirm your participation and financial contribution by responding to this e-mail address.  Even if you have sent an e-mail to Jared, please be sure and send me a copy so that Kim and I can keep track of these details.  Shortly after the 15^th of November and before Thanksgiving, we intend to let everyone know where we are with volunteers and contributions.

Gracias.  Nos veremos pronto.

Ralph