When 13 year old Shelby heard that her parents were interested in joining the Project Mercy Baja program to build a house for an impoverished family in Mexico, she immediately volunteered to help to raise funds. In the past 3 months she has baked and sold 22 batches of cupcakes, 61 batches of cookies and 8 cobblers! With an employee matching fund program from her dad’s company, plus direct donations and bottle and can collections, they raised the $7,800 needed to build the house. They even had sufficient left over to gift the family other much needed items. In addition to food, toiletries and kitchen utensils they purchased a small table and chairs as well as a small solar roof kit, all very gratefully received by the Hernandez Espinosa family of five.
March 2nd was the scheduled build and there was a lot of second guessing as to whether or not the weather would let them even get through the maze of dirt roads to the site. However they were all determined to get the work done. The day was a confusing mixture of drizzle, sun, heavy rain and back to sunshine, then rain yet again. Happily there was sufficient sunshine to enable the wet and weary but determined crew to carry on building. Their Team Leader, our great supporter and even more appreciated friend, Mike Meziere, guided them through the build as he has dozens before them over the past 25 or so years. Project Mercy sends our profound thanks to Mike, his wife Sheila and the rest of his family and friends for their amazing dedication to building homes for families so desperately in need.
The Hernandez Espinosa family was in awe of the entire event and the people who are so eager to help them start a new life. Father Jose de Jesus has a heart problem and needs to see a cardiologist every three months, this eats into his meager salary of $108 per week as a mason and they have absolutely nothing left over to build a solid shelter to call home. Now they have a new Project Mercy house and we are delighted to be able to give them a new start and a more secure future for their three sons.
Thank you the Liddle Family and everyone that battled through the dismal weather and came out on top of their game. They have very big hearts indeed.
