ANAual Giving 2020
Donation protected
Dear ANA member:
On March 6, 2020 the Diamond Princess cruise ship was held off the coast of California because passengers had contracted a novel coronavirus. Having docked in Puerto Vallarta in mid-February, that ship may have brought coronavirus to Vallarta for the first time.
For many of us, the whirlwind of events, mountains of bad news, and stay at home orders since then have all mushed together. We vacillate between anger, frustration, depression, introspection and feelings of helplessness and hopefulness while trying our best to find ways to continue to enjoy the life and health we have. Zoom birthday parties are the new reality…just don’t blow out the candles.
Contradictions abound in the messages we received over the months: Masks don’t help/wear masks. Virus is spread by touching/by air. Most young people don’t get sick/many get hospitalized. Those who’ve had it are immune/but maybe not for too long. The Feds say the beaches are closing in Vallarta/the State says no. We go to Walmart but are not allowed to enter at the same time as the person we live with.
Weird times for all of us.
What and when will our “new normal” be? If, God willing, you and yours have stayed healthy despite this unwelcome monster scratching at the door, you wonder: “when can I return to Vallarta?” “is air travel safe?” or “when can I feel comfortable (dining out, shopping, going to a party, getting my hair done) again?”. Financial impacts or obligations make this an even more challenging issue.
It’s impossible for anyone to give a concrete answer to these questions today. So we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. To that end, your Amapas Neighborhood Association Board is carefully using what resources we have to stay viable. After all, this August is our 20th Anniversary!
We have decided on a five point strategy:
1) Pivot our organization to help where it is most needed now. Instead of hosting our own meet and greets, under the leadership of Robin Spencer our PAVE program is providing hot meal packages (despensas) to those in need every week. Generous members have already donated a separate $192,000 pesos to this project, and we have already distributed 50 food packages for 14 weeks for about 7000 meals: the program will continue as long as we have dedicated funding…thank you for contributing!
2) We are looking out for you as security is important during these challenging times. Already this year we have established a security council and discussed traffic safety, organized neighborhood watch, obtained neighborhood watch signs, held regular meetings with the police chief, managed the Security WhatsApp Group and introduced a Calle Hortensias WhatsApp group. So far we have good results.
3) We have reduced operating costs having already had to layoff one of our two staff members and we may need to leave the office in September if we cannot negotiate further rent reduction. We have postponed any capital expenditures planned like on streets and infrastructure for now.
4) We will operate virtually, as our work goes on. The Board meets by Zoom, and we have had to cancel all in person meet and greets and fundraisers. For example, ANA filed a complaint in June with PRODEUR (Attorney General for Urban Development of Jalisco) against a newly announced project on Calle Santa Barbara to protect our Plan Parcial. Developers are taking advantage of this down time to overbuild but we are on the watch. We are aware of several other buildings that are trying to overbuild and are following these cases closely.
5) We are proactively fundraising the minimum amount of operating funds we need to keep operating through 2021. This works out to about $250,000 pesos ($50,000 pesos per month), or $11,200 at current exchange rates.
WE MUST RAISE $250,000 PESOS SO WE CAN COUNT ON BEING HERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU RETURN TO VALLARTA. We have reconfigured it as our ANAual Giving Campaign for 2020. We are still here for you.
Please consider a donation today, of $100 $250 or $500 USD. Visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ANA2020 and when you donate, send us your thoughts on how you’re doing.
We miss you and hope to see you soon!
Sincerely yours,
Don Pickens for the ANA Board:
Steve Clarke
Robert Howell
Robin Spencer
Sylvia Toy
On March 6, 2020 the Diamond Princess cruise ship was held off the coast of California because passengers had contracted a novel coronavirus. Having docked in Puerto Vallarta in mid-February, that ship may have brought coronavirus to Vallarta for the first time.
For many of us, the whirlwind of events, mountains of bad news, and stay at home orders since then have all mushed together. We vacillate between anger, frustration, depression, introspection and feelings of helplessness and hopefulness while trying our best to find ways to continue to enjoy the life and health we have. Zoom birthday parties are the new reality…just don’t blow out the candles.
Contradictions abound in the messages we received over the months: Masks don’t help/wear masks. Virus is spread by touching/by air. Most young people don’t get sick/many get hospitalized. Those who’ve had it are immune/but maybe not for too long. The Feds say the beaches are closing in Vallarta/the State says no. We go to Walmart but are not allowed to enter at the same time as the person we live with.
Weird times for all of us.
What and when will our “new normal” be? If, God willing, you and yours have stayed healthy despite this unwelcome monster scratching at the door, you wonder: “when can I return to Vallarta?” “is air travel safe?” or “when can I feel comfortable (dining out, shopping, going to a party, getting my hair done) again?”. Financial impacts or obligations make this an even more challenging issue.
It’s impossible for anyone to give a concrete answer to these questions today. So we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. To that end, your Amapas Neighborhood Association Board is carefully using what resources we have to stay viable. After all, this August is our 20th Anniversary!
We have decided on a five point strategy:
1) Pivot our organization to help where it is most needed now. Instead of hosting our own meet and greets, under the leadership of Robin Spencer our PAVE program is providing hot meal packages (despensas) to those in need every week. Generous members have already donated a separate $192,000 pesos to this project, and we have already distributed 50 food packages for 14 weeks for about 7000 meals: the program will continue as long as we have dedicated funding…thank you for contributing!
2) We are looking out for you as security is important during these challenging times. Already this year we have established a security council and discussed traffic safety, organized neighborhood watch, obtained neighborhood watch signs, held regular meetings with the police chief, managed the Security WhatsApp Group and introduced a Calle Hortensias WhatsApp group. So far we have good results.
3) We have reduced operating costs having already had to layoff one of our two staff members and we may need to leave the office in September if we cannot negotiate further rent reduction. We have postponed any capital expenditures planned like on streets and infrastructure for now.
4) We will operate virtually, as our work goes on. The Board meets by Zoom, and we have had to cancel all in person meet and greets and fundraisers. For example, ANA filed a complaint in June with PRODEUR (Attorney General for Urban Development of Jalisco) against a newly announced project on Calle Santa Barbara to protect our Plan Parcial. Developers are taking advantage of this down time to overbuild but we are on the watch. We are aware of several other buildings that are trying to overbuild and are following these cases closely.
5) We are proactively fundraising the minimum amount of operating funds we need to keep operating through 2021. This works out to about $250,000 pesos ($50,000 pesos per month), or $11,200 at current exchange rates.
WE MUST RAISE $250,000 PESOS SO WE CAN COUNT ON BEING HERE FOR YOU WHEN YOU RETURN TO VALLARTA. We have reconfigured it as our ANAual Giving Campaign for 2020. We are still here for you.
Please consider a donation today, of $100 $250 or $500 USD. Visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ANA2020 and when you donate, send us your thoughts on how you’re doing.
We miss you and hope to see you soon!
Sincerely yours,
Don Pickens for the ANA Board:
Steve Clarke
Robert Howell
Robin Spencer
Sylvia Toy
Organizer
Don Pickens
Organizer
