Maria's home trashed by vandals and hurricane .
Tony and Ruth Hume in Vancouver BC are organizing a fundraiser on behalf of
Maria, Bernie, and sons Pablo (13) and Carlos (7) on Isle de Navidad in Mexico.
This wonderful family has experienced catastrophic loss of their home and
business following vandalism, theft and a recent hurricane.
Tony and Ruth have vacationed with their four children in the area Maria’s family
lives since the early 1990’s. The friendly people and the Mexican culture have
always had a special place in our hearts.
We met this family at their property when having lunch in their near destroyed
home and restaurant Palmera Negra Playa.
After viewing the destruction and viewing how hard the family was working with in an extremely challenging situation we decided we had to help them.
Maria has provided a family bio on their circumstances below and generated a
detailed renovation budget that would help them rebuild their restaurant and
bungalow palapas, provide new bathrooms, re-install stolen wiring and piping,
and upgrade their kitchen.
Our family has committed to double all donations received for a personal total of $25,000.
Please help this family. They have suffered significantly for many years and
anything you can donate will make a significant improvement to their future.
Maria and Bernie are anxious to rebuild their property and business which will
allow them to provide for their family in thefuture.
Here is Maria’s summary of what happened and what they have endured:
In 2004, on a section of undeveloped beach along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, just 20 minutes from the popular tourist towns of Melaque and Barra de Navidad, Maria and her family began the hard work of constructing their family business. Coco Cabañas was a small eco-hotel powered entirely by solar, with rustic cabins, a pool, and restaurant, which came to provide a stable income for Marias family.
After a split from her partner in 2008, Maria continued to run Coco Cabañas as a single mother, working hard to provide the best environment for her son, Pablo. In 2013 Maria made the decision to move to another town, where she could work regular hours and be close to a school for Pablo. During their time away, their family grew; Maria met Bernie and baby Carlos was born.
In 2017, Maria and Bernie decided to move back to Melaque with Pablo and Carlos to work hard and save enough money to get Coco Cabañas up and running again. Unfortunately, when they got back, the property had been destroyed by vandals, and everything, except for the buildings themselves, had been stolen. Maria and Bernie decided to rent an apartment in Melaque and open a small restaurant they named Palmera Negra.
Sadly, for Maria and her family, just as Palmera Negra was becoming successful, COVID hit. The pandemic caused many changes in Melaque and surrounding areas, and Maria and Bernie had to close down Palmera Negra and let their apartment go in Melaque. Their only choice was to move back to Coco Cabañas, but, as the place was in ruin, they had to sleep in a tent until they could restore one cabin for their family to live in. After 3 1⁄2 months of hard physical labor, Maria and Bernie finally managed to move their family into a 5m x 5m cabin, and open their new restaurant, Palmera Negra Beach.
BUT, life would throw another spanner in the works for Maria and her family, as Tropical Storm Hernan it the area in August 2020, causing immense flooding, and completely wiping out the access road to Palmera Negra Beach Restaurant. This left the family with no income again for another 2 months, exhausting the last of their savings.
Despite all of this, Maria and her family are determined to get their piece of paradise up and running again, and restore Coco Cabañas to what it once was. With your help, we can watch this family get back on their feet and recreate a business that allows them to provide for their family and a wonderful place they are always happy to share with everyone.