Mexican_schools_project

Jeff Green | Sep 08, 2005

Home | Local Weather | Editorial Policy

Feature Article

. | Navigate | .

ArchiveImage GalleryAlgonquin Land Claims

Gray MerriamLegaleseGeneral information and opinion on legal topics by Rural Legal ServicesNature Reflectionsby Jean GriffinNight Skiesby Leo Enright

TheMexican Schools Project

On Saturday, September 17, a special fundraiser will take place in the form of a community yard sale at John Campsall’s, at the corner of Hwys 7 & 38 in Sharbot Lake. The proceeds of the yard sale will be donated to the Mexican Schools Project, a program that raises funds and gathers necessities for impoverished villages in Mexico.

The Mexican Schools Project began as the vision of Bob Johnson and Selena Goldberg, who travelled to Puerto Vallarta with gathered supplies to offer help where it was needed. They met a local couple, who pointed them in the direction of needy school teachers and children struggling with a shortage of supplies in Cabo Corrientes, and so they began fundraising.

Glenda and Bob Lister have spent the last nine years helping underprivileged scholchildren in Mexico, and recently they bought the old CROW (Children’s Resources on Wheels) bus. They are preparing to take it down to Cabo Corrientes with clothing, school supplies, stretchers, toiletries, first aid kits, shoes, etc. Few children in the region have shoes and have to walk to school in their bare feet, but scorpions are everywhere, and their bites are the leading cause of death to young people in the area. Once the bus arrives, it will double as an ambulance and a school bus.

Bev Parsons, president of the Maberly Women’s Institute, is actively involved in fundraising for the Mexican Schools Project, and is heading up the community yard sale on September 17. The bus is full, but money is needed to get the bus from Canada down to Mexico, and proceeds from the sale will go towards that. The yard sale is open for donations – if you would like to donate something to raise money for this project, you can contact Bev at 268-2568, or Betty Van Alstine at 279-2449. There will be a delicious Beef Taco lunch and refreshments available at the sale for $4.50. Bev has also made a quilt that will be raffled at the Civitan Club in Perth on October 11. Raffle tickets will be available at the yard sale.

For more information, visit www.mexicanschoolsproject.com.