We need your help.
2019 was the La Mision Children’s Fund’s (LMCF) most challenging year ever with multiple numbers of projects: ongoing, completed and in the planning stage. The Food bank served record numbers of families and children but at the same time wholesale food costs for rice, beans, and flour increased by almost 50%. Long postponed maintenance at the area high school and elementary reached a point where buildings were closed or were under consideration of closing. Then the October fires destroyed parts of our service area including over 25 homes in Santa Anita where the food bank is located.
In 2016 The La Mision Foodbank was serving 55 families a month. Now we average 350 families a month and we have served up to 380 area families in 2019. Besides food we provide school supplies, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, coats, books and clothing to our communities as they are donated to us. The Children’s Fund continues a mobile delivery to multiple distressed areas, including many ravaged by the October fires that destroyed or damaged so many of our client’s homes. We expect the number of needy families to increase further as a result of these devastating fires
Monthly the foodbank provides rice, beans, oil, pasta, flour, tomato sauce and donated can goods Occasionally we can provide frozen chickens and other select items such as baby formula, diapers, bath soap, dental care items to foodbank customers. The food bank location has become a dry food distribution stop for Mexican Family Services (DIF) which has augmented our services. But even with the supplemental food from DIF what we provide is barely enough for a family of 4 to last 10 days.
Over the last 5 years, the number of families using the food bank has doubled. At the same time, our food costs have risen by almost 200%. Our donations have not been able to keep up with client growth and rising costs. Some months our costs are 3000.00 dollars just for basic food items.
Our other signature program is support for area schools through the remarkable BECA scholarship program, pure drinking water systems, volunteer and paid teachers, building repair and tutoring.
2019 saw substantial construction projects at the Santa Anita elementary school where we replaced a worn and leaking roof on one building and with financial and labor support from All Saints Episcopal Church of Monrovia CA. repaired crumbling walkways and building structural support. We acquired and pay for satellite Wi-Fi for the high school computer lab in La, Mision which has quadrupled their bandwidth and purchased solar motion-sensing night lights for the high school. LMCF repaired the kitchen and bathrooms roofs at the high school and installed new light fixtures and painted two classrooms. We also provided a part-time English teacher at the high school and extensive after school tutoring programs.
The Children’s Fund in partnership with the La Mision Rotary Club took a dilapidated seldom used park in Santa Anita and turned it into a beautiful children’s park with concrete benches and tables, playground equipment and a secure enclosure. It is now used by most of the community to let their children play and mothers time to visit knowing their children are secure and entertained.
We installed and operate four pure drinking water systems in area schools and a Tijuana orphanage. These reverse osmosis/ultraviolet water units provide the only certified pure drinking water in the event of an emergency and are reducing costs. The Children’s Fund continues to provide medical supplies to the Santa Anita Free Medical Clinic which our generous donors reopened in 2018.
LMCF, through our partnership with the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering’s Global TIES and Engineers without Borders programs, installed multiple solar hot water units in several Tijuana orphanages and pure drinking water at the Hacienda de Immaculate orphanage.
Through BECA in 2019, we paid college tuition for 45 university students from our area and school fees for 65 elementary to high school students. We provide toilet paper, trash bags, cleaning and office supplies to the high school, elementary and junior high school
We have always encouraged individuals, families, school and church groups to come and volunteer their time. We coordinate and facilitate any size group in making a quantifiable difference in the community. Groups have painted, tutored, performed light construction and maintenance in area schools, orphanages, the food bank and other public structures.
All La Mision Children’s Fund activities are about the compassionate, empathetical and generous people who support us. Thank You and we know you are in the prayers of the children and families we serve. A special thank you to the Rotary Club of La Mision, Baja California, the Rotary Club of Anchorage, Alaska and the Baja Blues Festival. Their generosity has allowed us to continue to provide expanded food stuff through our Food bank.
Again, Thank You for your past generous gifts of money, time and encouragement. You are truly changing the lives of people who were destined to live in poverty with few paths out. You are helping to provide food and an education that will change the lives of over 1800 children annually. Moving forward please consider helping to close the near 1500.00-dollar monthly shortfall needed to keep the foodbank open.
Please if you are thinking of some way to help LMCF you can go to lamsionchildrensfund.org and sign up to donate each month to the work we are doing.
The La Mision Children’s Fund
www.lamisionchildrensfund.org
To contact us: Kathleen Dwyer 626-833-3293, Beverly Wilburn 619-770-8892, Mary Ellis 208-589-9356. Mari Daniels 619-488-5210, Steve Ellis 208-589-4112