Christmas Chicken Dinner Fundraiser for the poor in Mazatlan

This Christmas fundraiser breakfast for the poor was held on Saturday, December 12th in the arts and crafts building at the cruise ship docks here in Maz. It helped raise money to provide Christmas chicken dinners for 2,000 families. The dinners will be delivered to them on Christmas Eve morning.

The building was decorated with festive pinatas and Christmas music, some we even recognized.

Our good friends, Dick and Jan from Colorado, went with us. Dick and Greg are served breakfast.

The breakfast consisted of beef machaca, chilaquilles, soupy refried beans served with tortillas. We also enjoyed some yummy pastries.

A nice Mexican family sat at our table and the mother had a 4 month old baby boy named Joseph.

Mother and Joseph

Group photo.

Jan enjoying baby Joseph.

Rough translation of the message on the back of the shirts the wait staff were wearing was, "Share your Christmas with someone".

Front of shirts. Again, a rough translation is "learn to give back when one gives to you".

The lady in red is Yolanda. She and her family are the ones responsible for this event. Many years ago when her daughter was dying in the hospital and she spent many days/hours there, a generous family who cared enough to help out brought a chickend dinner to Yolanda's family. So she and her family, in memory of their daughter, have taken chicken dinners to families at Christmas time for 15 years now.

After breakfast there was a raffle held.

Our table wasn't showing to be very lucky so Dick had the idea of burning the tickets.

Then, suddenly, Jan's number was called. But, alas, they took her prize to another table. :( Oh well, it was a 6 pack of Tonical (Tonic Water). So she wasn't too disappointed.

Dick won a prize. It was a platter of a few interesting prizes.

Besides a plastic appetizer platter, a Christmas manger scene decoration, a leather wallet and Modelo Beer tee shirt.

This is baby Joseph's older brother, Antonio. Dick put the ribbon on him and told him in Spanish he was the gift. He was proud of that.

Our table got even luckier. Right at the end Greg's number was called.

He won a beautiful coffee table book of a famous artist here in Mazatlan. Armando Nava. Here's a link to his work. Really wonderful work. http://www.saii.com.mx/janava/en/inicio.asp

We really enjoyed this event and it was for such a worthy cause. So wonderful to be part of something like this at Christmastime - giving back to those less fortunate.