You have
already read on my previous Blogs how much community work the expats and their
Ecuadorean friends of Salinas do for the children and families in need
–see http://uwepetrastravelyear.blogspot.com/2013_12_01_archive.html
but this time one of our own needed our help.
but this time one of our own needed our help.
Now for a
bit of background-everyone’s good friend Mary had had a bicycle accident back
in last June. While trying to avoid getting hit by a car while riding in the
bicycle lane along the Salinas Malecon, Mary crashed into a light pole instead
badly breaking her upper arm. After a hospital stay and surgery she was on the
mend. Remember it takes much longer for broken bones to repair once you hit a
certain age- LOL. In early December she re-insured her arm in a freak accident
undoing all healing that had occurred during the previous 5 months. Now she
needed far more complicated surgery involving bone and skin grafts and her
insurance no longer covered this necessary procedure.
To the
rescue came our entire expat population along with our various Ecuadorian
friends. We number under 200 in the Santa Elena area. After Dee convinced Mary
to accept our help, a committee of 9 planned a night of fund raising to be held at one of
our local Expat bars’ Sin’.
A group of
these volunteered to purchase, cook & serve a great meal- turkey, beans,
cole slaw, buns & many deserts. Others organized a Silent Auction to be
held that night approaching local businesses & individuals to donate meals, B&B stays, dance
lessons, teeth cleaning, original paintings, musical instruments, jewelry,
baked goods= you name it, we had it- a grand total of 26 prizes. Notices via
Facebook and email were sent out plus donation jars were placed in some of our
Expat hangouts- Will’s Place/Hostel Aqui, Smokin, Smiley Gringo and Sin. A
schedule was also drawn up for volunteers to collect at the bar door- we were
charging $10 with food and $5 after food ran out. Plus, best of all, the
incredible Toda Band were donating their services for our event! We were also
going to run a 50/50 draw to raise even more $$$’s. All this with the grand
evening scheduled only 1 week away.
Once notices
went out, donations via Paypal or cash dropped off started pouring in. Wow- the
amazing generosity of all our friends!
Finally the
big night arrived ‘Benefit for Mary’ and what a night it was!
The first
door shift- over 140+ people came!
The many
many friends enjoying the food, the band, the company
The many
items up for bids at the Silent Auction
The amazing
Toda Band- great sets!
And lots and
lots of people dancing the night away.
The Benefit
was a huge success. People ate and danced until after 10:30PM- pretty late for
us old geezers and an incredible $3933 was raised. What an amazing community we
live in!
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