Sunday, July 28th was a lovely afternoon and evening for donors and supporters of the Feeding Los Cabos Kids program here in the Cabo Harbor. Dan Mason, the owner of Cabo Yacht Charters, donated a five-hour tour with dinner aboard one of his luxury yachts, the “Neoprene”.
A couple of dozen locals paid $500 per head to attend, raising around $11,000 for the charity.
Dan Mason is a man with a big heart. While chatting with him on the cruise, I discovered that he is trying to legally adopt a baby that was in an orphanage due to abuse and neglect. He already adopted a young lady when she was in her teens who is now married and expecting her first baby. In Mexico, orphanages don’t always house actual “orphans”. They are often children whose parents are still alive but are abusive and/or addicts. Adopting them is a difficult process because the parents are often still alive. It takes a lot of effort and money to get permanent legal custody. Dan is up for the task a second time, apparently.
The uber-luxurious Neoprene rents for upwards of $20,000 so it was a bargain for donors at $500 per head. The beautiful dinner included New York steak and halibut with a spicy raspberry sauce and an open bar with a cheese board and sashimi appetizers. The Neoprene is 108 ft with staterooms, designated crew members, a private chef, a personal bartender, kayaks, paddle boards, snorkel gear and fishing tackle.
Feeding Los Cabos Kids was founded 20 years ago by a woman named Donna Brnjc. Donna was visiting Cabo because she had won the vacation in a church raffle and was appalled at the living conditions of the poor. How she even found them I am not sure, as many tourists and even locals do not head into those areas of Los Cabos. She started out on her own, pretty much single-handedly, to feed and clothe people in the poorest neighborhoods.
Feeding Los Cabos Kids, (aka FLCK), has now grown to 14 kitchens providing a daily meal in the barrios of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. The 15,000 to 20,000 meals FLCK provides every month are often the only food people in these neighborhoods have. The meals provide a much-needed serving of protein, beans, rice and tortillas. FLCK also provides a dining room at each location with chairs, tables, plates, cups and cutlery.
The kitchens are staffed by volunteer women from the community who buy and cook the food provided by funds from FLCK. Women and children who depend on the kitchens in their neighborhoods are happy to volunteer to help their neighbors. In exchange for leading the food preparation and distribution, the ladies receive some groceries for their families. It’s a great system and I really love that it’s not just a handout. Everyone is contributing what they have to give.
In hurricane season, many people in the worst barrios of Los Cabos and San Jose lose their ramshackle huts in the heavy runoff of the riverbeds (arroyos), where they are forced to build their “homes”. Clean water is in very short supply, along with many other basic necessities. Plumbing and electricity are not really available and yet they somehow manage to survive in the harsh desert with dirt floors and cardboard walls.
The FLCK charity also organizes donations of clothing and household items for people who often do not even have proper shoes. If you have any of these items, they would be much appreciated by the people who truly have nothing.
The new Director of FLCK, Ken Riggs, is hoping to raise enough money to build a central storage and distribution bodega this year that would provide a place to get wholesale food delivered, saving 30% on food costs and many man-hours. This facility will be 2,500-3,500 square feet and will have a working kitchen, walk-in storage, walk-in refrigeration and a walk-in freezer. The barrio kitchen volunteers could then get their supplies there instead of having to shop every week which saves money and man hours.
We are always looking for donations of food, clothing, household items and cash. If you would like to support the charity with your time or money, please WhatsApp or call Ken Riggs at +1 501 680 5144.
