RECENT NEWS
Inauguration of La Patria Kinder
 
The official inauguration of the La Patria Kindergarten in La Colmena took place on Monday, March 29. The construction of the kinder was one of the first projects undertaken by our Education Committee. This was a great opportunity for the community to see how their participation in events like Fiesta 2010 and our last Gran Bazar is helping to make a difference in our community and to show their support for the group working group of parents who have made this possible.
  
Photo credit: Thanks to Johan Neilson
We gratefully acknowledge the other project supporters: Padres de Familias,
Club Rotario Bahia de Jaltemba La Peñita, El Ejido, Bold Developments, Fashion Show -- Jaltemba Foundation, Barb Johnson, Jorge Ramirez (Viables SA de CV) as well as the many volunteers who came to help out.
Los Amigos Initiatives for 2010 - 2011
 The March 29, 2010 meeting of Los Amigos de la Peņita proved to be a great opportunity for the group to celebrate the successes it had achieved over the last year and to approve a budget and action plan for the year ahead.
 more info
Fiesta 2010 - 3rd Annual Fundraiser the Best Yet!
more than 200 people who attended Los Amigos de La Peņita's Fiesta 2010 on Sunday, January 31 at Hacienda La Peņita - Thomas Bartlett's internationally acclaimed estate.
El Gran Bazar a Huge Success
 
Initiated to raise money for projects designed to help improve schools in La Peņita, El Gran Bazar held by the Education Committee of Los Amigos de La Peņita on Saturday, December 5, was a huge success.
Helping the Parents of La Peņita Improve the Condition of Their Schools
 A year ago, Maria and her classmates at J. Cruz Bautista Escuela Primaria in La Colmena had to wade through twelve inches of water during the rainy season to get to a run-down bathroom. Now, thanks to the efforts of a hard working group of parents with support from Los Amigos de la Peņita, they not only have a brand new bathroom, they don't have to struggle through water to get to it.
Scholarship Candidates
At it's meeting of Jan 12, Los Amigos approved a motion to establish the Los Amigos Scholarship Fund to finance six CONALEP/Prepatoria
students for a full year's tuition and supplies at a total cost of 18,000 pesos per year.
We would like to introduce the successful scholarship candidates for 2009 ».
Pathways to Excellence2
On April 13th and 14th, 2009, Los Amigos de La Peņita in cooperation with The Pacific Institute and Jaltemba Bay La Peņita Rotary club held a 2 day leadership training / personal growth seminar for thirty students.
Thanks to Eddie Dominguez for photos and Johan Nielson for slide show.
The sessions were lead by Gregg Cochlan, Managing Director for The Pacific Institute, Canada who donated his time. He and his wife Sandra also donated all the course materials. It was attended by CONALEP Rotary Club scholarship recipients, Rotary & Los Amigos de La Peņita relatives and friends. Volunteers from both Rotary & Los Amigos and community members assisted to organize the event. This is a course which has been given to thousands of students worldwide at a cost of 250 dollars per student. Xaltemba Restaurant and Mario's Tortas provided food and refreshments.
Many thanks to The Pacific Institute, Greg for his generous donation of time and materials, all the volunteers, Angel and Patti at CONALEP, Mario's and Xaltemba for food and especially Eddie for organizing it and translating two full days.
We hope to make this an annual event.
Municipal President officially inaugurates the Eco Park
 
On March 31, Los Amigos representatives along with elected officials, local dignitaries and neighbourhood residents attended the official inauguration of the Unidad Recreativa y Deportiva (Sports Recreational Center) at the Eco Park.
Initiatives for 2009-2010
The March 30, 2009 meeting of Los Amigos de la Peņita proved to be a great opportunity for the group to celebrate the successes it had achieved over the last year and to approve a budget and action plan for the year ahead.
Second annual Fundraiser at Thomas Bartlett Estate
Our second annual fundraiser was a spectacular success. Almost 200 people attended and supported Los Amigos de La Peņita with proceeds approximately 212,000 pesos. Since our host Thomas Bartlett generously funded the full cost of the event, all of these monies will go to support the work of Los Amigos.
Working with partners to give children of La Peņita a safe and friendly place to play
Almost 50 people, both local residents and international visitors, turned up on Saturday, January 31 to undertake the next phase in the clean up and further development of a children´s park in La Peņita. The park is located in Colonia Pescadores at the corner of C. Mazatlan and B. Acapulco. Los Amigos has provided financial support, as well as manpower. Los Amigos sees the park as a "thank you" to the children of the community for their participation in our recycling program.
  
Photo Credit: Thanks to Johan Neilson
Work carried out Saturday included the installation of basketball backboards and soccer goal posts and additional leveling and hole filling on the fields. The next stage in the development of the park will be the installation of lights; this work has already begun. Los Amigos is funding the purchase of the necessary hardware and the Municipality has agreed to install them.
To learn more about the park, click here:
Providing Support to Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue
At its meeting on January 26, Los Amigos de la Peņita approved a motion to
provide a one-time grant of 10,000 pesos to Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue (JABR).
The cost of operating JBAR in the last year was $53,514.60 pesos and, assuming
the same operating cost for the next 12 months, this grant will cover 18.7% of
what is needed to fund JBAR.
"Established in 2003 by Lin Chimes of Los Ayala, Nayarit, Mexico, this nonprofit
group advocates humane and healthy practices for animals in the Jaltemba Area by
promoting health, education, spay and neutering, adoptions, foster care and
positive relationships with animals and their owners."
(Mission Statement from the JBAR website.)
La Peņita gets the lion's share (75%) of JBAR's many services and the funds we
granted to JBAR will be mostly used in our La Peņita area, but they will also be
shared with our good neighbors throughout Jaltemba Bay.
To learn more about Jaltemba Bay Animal Rescue, go to:
http://www.tomplattenberger.com/JBAR/Welcome.html
Los Amigos de la Peņita - Helping the Community Beautify It's Beach
More than 150 people turned up on Saturday, January 24 to help clean the La Peņita beach as part of a beach clean up campaign organized and funded by Los Amigos de la Peņita. The entire beach was cleaned - from the estuary to the cemetery.
"Los Amigos has decided to make the 'Clean La Peņita Beach Campaign' a priority project for 2009," said Zobeida Barrera Lozano, National President. "A clean and revitalized beach is essential in order to better promote La Peņita to national and international tourists and to instill community pride among La Peņita residents."
  
Photo Credit: Thanks to Tom Plattenberger
The clean up day is just part of an overall campaign. The Committee is also proposing a number of initiatives to improve the area at the end of the Avenida. These include: replacing the cobblestone at the end of Avenida and Circuito Liberdad, having signs made to encourage people to keep the beach clean, painting an artistic billboard on the south wall of the beach, sweeping the cobblestone and sidewalk and removing sand from the street and, subject to the approval of the Delegaciķn, placing boulders along the side of the to prevent cars from parking on the beach. Los Amigos is spending roughly 30,000 pesos on this initiative.
"It's gratifying to see so many people, both local residents and international visitors, show up to help out and we want to extend our thanks to all of them," added International President Ken Snyder
Los Amigos de la Peņita Honours School Directors
On January 19, Los Amigos de la Peņita hosted a reception to thank the Directors of the schools in La Peņita for their participation in their plastics recycling program and to launch the next phase of the program.
 
Photo Credit: Thanks to Jeanie Mintzmyer
The plastics recycling program that Los Amigos put in place, in cooperation with the Delegaciķn Municipal, was launched on April 10th, 2008 and includes all fourteen schools in La Peņita and La Colonia. Presently, there are 4,000 students that participate in this program.
The next phase of the program will involve the establishment of a network of locations in the community where individuals can drop off their plastics. Recycling baskets have been placed on the Avenida and along the beach. Los Amigos is working to find locations where individuals can drop off larger amounts of plastics that they have collected. A list of locations that have already been identified can be viewed here »
Los Amigos Press Releases »
About La Peņita | About Los Amigos | Initiatives | Fundraising | News and Events | Contact Us
| 
