IFC January pg. 1

FROM THE PRESIDENT
Al Ward
Tel:  223-259l (or) 228-0050
Email:  yvonneal@pvnet.com.mx
FAX:  228-0458

The season for good wishes to all is with us. We hope it has brought a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and that this New Year 2005 will bring blessings of peace and good will throughout our world.
 

It has been another eventful year here, and the business of keeping up with the demands of the continuing and varying needs of our Puerto Vallarta community requires the dedication and interest of our members. Whether you are a full-time, part-time resident member, or visitor member, your constant support is truly appreciated. Activity is an anti-depressant and the satisfaction that one gets from accomplishing a specific task is a reward in itself as well as a healthy non-drug tonic. No one member involved in our on-going projects will ever say "I'm really bored". Please consider some involvement; your talents are important to our success. We'll be calling on you!
 

To bolster our work here for our humanitarian interests with those who so hopefully look to us for help, we optimistically are anticipating that our new USA 501(c)3 "FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES-IN-NEED" FOUNDATION will generate the interest of Americans who have compassion for our causes. We are currently working on the website to portray our story. In the meantime, you can send any donations to P.O. Box 30484, Raleigh, NC. 27622. (Email: CAFINIFC@HOTMAIL.COM) Tel: 919-889-2055)
Besides the various charity groups that receive monthly stipends from us, the IFC funds special projects brought to our attention, including special children's cultural projects, and our ongoing education projects, medical program (the Cleft Palate operations, orthodontics, speech therapy) plus our Patrocinio program (involving unusual circumstances of destitute parents desperate with ailing children or families in some cases who are not eligible for government assistance, and our Community Service which includes our "Rice and Beans" and "Feed the Children" programs. (It's difficult to visit a school, for instance, and find out there are some children who have not eaten for several days.) So, we keep trying to enhance the lives of those who are brought to our attention. There is nothing glamorous about what we do, but it needs to be done.
 

The time of year has arrived when we again prepare for the election of officers, and are asking our Nominating Committee to come up with a slate of officers for the next two years. I will have served two terms as your president. Besides this office, we have Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Corresponding Secretary. The Committee will be reviewing these positions and searching for likely candidates. It will be reporting on their slate at the February General Meeting.
In the past few years the International Friendship Club (Club Internacional de la Amistad) has made a tremendous breakthrough in meeting the demands of the underprivileged populous in this, our adopted, community. We never want to let them down. Thank you all for another wonderful year of support and interest in what we do.

TREASURER'S REPORT
Allan Badner
Tel: 222-1563
email: badner@pvnet.com.mx

I am pleased to report that the club finances are in excellent shape and we can continue making a difference to the people in need in Puerto Vallarta. Our cash projections are on target and all our obligations and charitable commitments are being fully fulfilled. We are only one month into our season and our cash balances are positive and building up. Our income as of November 30, 2004 is up $105,000 pesos over last year and our operating expenses are about the same as last year, so we are on the right track. Our programs are all running well and we are looking to expand our outreach.
 

We have now set up our CAFIN Foundation and are in the process of establishing a website. We expect this Foundation to bring in significant funds for our programs in Puerto Vallarta.
I would like to thank the great response we are getting from volunteers for many of our programs and activities. We are also very happy with the response for help at our front desk. As of this printing we would like to thank Mandy MacLeay, Diane Picciuca, Sonny Hendrickson and Wendy White for their invaluable help.
 

Our lifeblood is the income from the Home Tours, without which, we could not function. We have improved the safety of our operation with the use of federally licensed modern air-conditioned buses. We salute our Home Tour workers headed by Susan Austin. Susan is ably assisted by, Bob Lilley who is from San Francisco and lives here six months of the year. Also on the job, are Canadians John Hamlin and John Lockington who split the year in two paradises, Muskoka, Ontario and Puerto Vallarta. Leon Rolnick, our veteran Home Tours cashier, hails from Bakersfield, California but spends at least six months with his wife Marise in their gorgeous condo in Punta Negra, south of town. He is assisted by, Esther Johnson of Vancouver, BC. Special thanks must go out to the many docents who come out week after week to actually conduct the tours.