Christmas 2017
16 Nov
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
