“Whatever your cause, whatever your motivation, I hope you’ll agree with me that volunteer service is an extraordinary gift.”

• Neil Bush, American businessman

San Juan Cosalá’s Summer 2024 Art Camp

I humbly begin writing with such gratitude, joy and appreciation …

Every summer, the first two weeks of August, an art camp is held at Viva Mexico restaurant, the home of San Juan Cosalá’s Operation Feed. Augustin, the owner, closes the restaurant for 8 days over a two-week period. The facilities become a wonderful center of the local 8-12 year-old kids’ laughter, imagination and creativity with an assortment of memorable craft and art activities. Their infectious joy is captivating and stimulating.

It was right after Covid that I got involved in Operation Feed; first, as a volunteer translator with their art camp, then last year I co-chaired the camp at the request of the organization’s president. This year I went solo as director (I call myself the camp wrangler).

Solo, only in the aspect of the organization of art camp: the recruitment of volunteers, procuring supplies, and the logistics; the results a “group of individuals right out of central casting” of passionate, caring volunteers. Some hailing from faraway places like my bestie, Cyndi, from Los Angeles and my friend, Todd, from New Orleans, flying in specifically to offer their creative services.

For the first time, the camp provided a kid-friendly lunch. In the past, it was a simple snack. This year: hot dogs, yogurt, granola bars, bags of chips, chocolate-covered bananas, fruits, juice drinks, and fresh-baked goods whipped up by the chefs of  Viva Mexico. Best of all was the fresh-baked PIZZA with the kids’ favorite topping: salchicha (mini hot dogs), with a must-have side of ketchup (!) on the last day. We threw in some candy for good measure.  Footnote: I didn’t say, “nutritious,” but kid friendly.

Like all NGO’s (non-government charity organizations), we operate on a shoe-string budget, but without the shoe … this  year 70% of  the funding for the art camp came from donations from U.S. friends and the decorated piggybank drive collections provided by “The Egg Ladies.”

One of our Operation Feed members generously donated two days of lunches, and then there was the anonymous hotel guest who dropped 1,500 pesos in a hotel hallway, which I found in our hotel in Guadalajara during the “El Buen Fin” (The Good End) Weekend last November. I kept it aside for its lucky and fortuitous meaning.

Our volunteer teachers and assistants also donate a sizable percentage of the supplies they use in their creative stations/workshops.

Throughout the year, as people make material donations to our organization, I become a voracious scavenger and look for any items that can be of use for Art Camp.

You might be curious to ask, “What’s the budget for this year?” It’s 24,861 pesos – that’s $1,330 dollars at today’s equivalent exchange rate. It covers two weeks of camp supplies and lunches for 125 kids. We offer a lot with truly so little!

My goal and challenge for next year is to raise twice that amount, so where can you help? Every little bit goes a long way! ¡Muchísimas gracias!

You can directly donate through our website at:

https://www.operationfeedsjc.com/donate

After designating the amount, write “SJC Summer Camp” or you can send checks to my U.S. address:

Sergio Suarez , 1187 East 3^rd Street, # 315, Long Beach, CA 90802. 

Note: if you’d like your donation to be tax-deductible, you must use the link.  If you are a local expat, you can contact me through my WhatsApp:  33 2804 1157.

I hope you can “hear my unabashed plea”, but please allow me to show you what fun, exciting activities we had to offer this year:

Robots, Dinosaurs and Helicopters (oh my!) were created from 8-ounce white paper cups. This group took pictures of each kid that completed the craft and on the last day, made pictures frames … an idea that I’m going to steal to promote to all groups at camp next year.

Sock Puppets – socks & loose yarn + googly-eyes = Títeres (puppets), kids imaginations unlimited.

Bracelets – most popular; memory wire and an assortment of beads. Some kids politely asked if they could make an extra one for a sister, mom or Abuelita …  it just tugs at your heartstrings, seeing the smiles on their faces when you tell them, go for it!

Jewelry Boxes made of egg cartons, all beautifully embellished.

Tongue depressors became bookmarks.

El Señor Ramon, the garden snake, made of small painted rocks. Each kid painted a rock with their name on it, added to a daily growing serpent, and it grew quite large.

Printed characters became key tags; yarns and colorful beads became friendship bracelets …. all I have to say is “via da go” (way-to-go!) for overwhelmingly choosing my favorite all-time character: Minions!

CD Mobiles – shiny, bright and colorful hanging mobiles made of old, discarded CDs.

Photo Collages – made from cutout photos from magazines and books; unrestrained creativity ruled, but most of the boys went car crazy.

Fabric Collages – piles of leftover pieces of quilt material, enhanced with buttons and bling.

Key Chains – paper plates and magnets became imaginative toys and shrunk-down, plastic painted key chains.

Puppets – clothespins and pieces of paper, combined with the kid’s imagination, became a yapping puppet.

Photography – all these are the kids’ photos! Here was another very popular activity, using old, donated cellphones. What fascinating and creative photos were captured with color, texture and composition in mind.

Modeling Clay Works – Imaginations ran wild with whatever their hands and minds created.

Salt Painting (!) –  you heard that right … first a drawing is made, outlined with Elmer’s glue, then salt is sprinkled on top, with paint added to create a 3D work of art.

Denim Jean Bags – Taking a big donation of a pallet of remnants of blue jean material, containing a stack of unfinished girls’ jeans, and with the help of another volunteer, who cut them up and made purses from them. The kids (girls & boys!) got to decorate them using beads, stamps, bling, stickers and lots of personal imagination. Without a doubt, this was The Big Hit of this year’s art camp. 

It took a lot of effort and imagination to put on this year’s Art Camp; the hours of work and exhaustion of the last two weeks are quickly erased by the kids’ enthusiasm and their big, happy smiles.

We volunteers give a lot, but in the end, the joyous rewards make every moment infinitely rewarding. Many thanks to all involved! It couldn’t have happened without y’all.

Bigger, bolder and better plans are already in the works for 2025 to help continue to bring on the smiles. ¡Muchísimas gracias!

David would like to add his two cents worth…

“Of course there’s a bit of bias, but I’m so proud of Sergio and his great effort in planning and organizing this year’s summer art camp. His dedication and attention to detail made the eight-day event successful beyond comparison. It was smooth running and drama free. Especially joyful was to watch the interaction between Sergio and “his kids.” There was an incredible and mutual love and respect going on between them. No wonder – Sergio’s the biggest kid in the house!

As a volunteer myself, it felt like being a part of a special group of individuals offering their precious time, energy and kindness. It was an unforgettable experience.”

Thanks to all who contributed photos.