HOPE HOUSE CHRISTMAS PARTY

We are inviting everyone , who wishes to attend,to the Hope House Christmas party this year. It will be
held December 13th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Fun will be had by all. It is located in the fracc. Ague
Escondida, the subdivision across from Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos( the city known for Cinco Patrillos)
The entrance to our subdivision is directly in front of the sweet/dulce stands- across from OXXO. If anyone
has problems with transportation, we will be happy to provide this for you, to the party and from.
There are 18 boys living there at this time- ages ranging from 4- 17 years old. We have sponsors
for 6 of the boys already. If there is someone out there, whom would like to sponsor a specific boy for
Christmas, it would be greatly appreciated. We also accept donation of any amount, which are then
pooled to sponsor a boy. So no donation is too small. We attempt to make sure the boys receive equal
amounts of gifts- this worked out well last year. If you decide to sponsor a child, we will give you the
sizes for clothing. If you are having problems with the clothing sizes, you may accompany us, with the
house mother, to Walmart on December 2nd at 10:00. She knows better than we, what the boys like and
what is appropriate. I have learned, with a 13 year old grand daughter, that my tastes are not as au curant
as they could be. These children are grateful for anything under the tree. Last year we concentrated on
clothing : a tee shirt, pair of pants, socks, boxer shorts, pair of shoes first, then if there was any monies left over , we were able to purchase several communal games for all of them to use together. This seemed to work out well, so all received equal gifts.
We would be happy to pick up any donations , gifts (and wrap them for you, if you like). You may contact
Barry and I through heltonbcs@aol.com for further information or send a pm on this webboard. Our local
phone number , which is not working so well right now, is 762-1628. However, we will go to town to check
our emails daily, if and certainly when, the phone goes on us. Seems to be doing that with any amount of
rain.
Below is a list of the boys whom have no sponsor at this time:

Abel Yair age 14
Jose Manuel age 10
Brandon Alexis age 4
Juan Antonio age 9
Ricardo age 13
Cristopher Daniel age 4
Edward Isaac age 6
Luis Carlos age 15
Jose Maria age 7
Roman Jetzemany age 10
Amulfo age 14
Carlos Ulysis age 14

If I can answer any questions , or help in any way , please feel free to call or email me.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
Sincerely,
Christine , Barry and Judy
Everyone is welcome. You do not have to bring a gift to attend. The more the merrier. We just ask you
rsvp, so as to have enough snacks, food etc for everyone. We are looking forward to meeting new friends
and , not only providing the boys with much needed essentials, but renewing our own Christmas spirits!

We would like to thank a very generous gentleman for sponsoring
Amulfo, age 14, and Ricardo, age 13. We appreciate this very much.
Once again, thank you.
Christine, Barry and Judi

Carlos Ulises, age 14 now has a sponsor. Thank you so very much.
Christine, Barry and Judi

What sum is required... what would be a reasonable amount to sponsor a child?

What is needed per child?

That you, hockables, for asking that question. After re-reading my post,
I realized I was very ambiguous about that. We will take any donation,
any amount, and pool it toward the amount , which usually (depending
on the age of the boy, younger boys clothing does not cost as much) but we
ended up spending, on the average 1000 pesos per child- younger ones
less, older ones more. But, as I said previously, that is a huge commit-
ment, so as to lighten the burden, we pool any donations, whether it is money,
clothing or toy and put them together so each child has a shirt, 3 pair of
socks, 3 pair of boxer shorts, pair of pants- and if any money is left - we
add a toy for the younger ones- We have 2 four year olds this year- last
year we only had one- we buy communal games for the boys to share. Jim
W. has already donated a wonderful communal game. If anyone wishes,
they could simply donate coloring book, crayons, art supplies, books- or
anything of that sort- and not have to sponsor anyone. We would be happy
to do the shopping and wrapping for anyone- or everyone. So please, to all
that read this, you do not have to sponsor a boy completely, a small donation
would be pooled with other donations, and these DO add up, allowing a child
to be sponsored. THANK YOU so much for asking this question, it was remiss,
on my part, as to the vagueness of what sponsoring a child actually means.
Actually, half the boys last year, were "partically" sponsored- yet all received
equal gifts- except , I have to confess, the four year old, who may have,uhhh
recieved a bit more(and as one of lots of grandmothers out there, we could not help ourselves.
Once again, thank you for asking this.

Dear Zed in Mexico:

Sorry, I was writting the response to Hockables when your post came in.
We are trying to get for each child 1-2 tee shirts, 3 pairs of socks, one
pair of pants, and three boxer shorts. If there is anything left, we will
add communal games or a small toy for each of the four year olds.
Thank you all - sorry about my vagueness in the original post.
Sincerely,
Christine, Barry and Judi

I also thought it might be helpful for me to list the boys who have not
been sponsored, their ages and the sizes for tee shirts, pants, boxer
shorts, socks. That way if anyone would like to purchase any of the above
seperatly they would have the size.
age tee shirt/shirt size pant size boxershorts sock size
Abel Yair 14 16 Boys Boys 16 boys large boys medium
Jose Manuel 10 12 Boys boys 12 boys medium boys medium
Brandon Alexis 4 4 child's childs 4 childs 4 small childs
Juan Antonio 9 10 boys boys10 boys 10 boy medium
Cristopher Daniel 4 7 childs child 6 childs 6 small childs
Eduardo Isaac 6 8 childs 8 child childs 8 smalll boys
Luis Carlos 15 30 mens 30 mens large boys large boys
Jose Mario 7 boys 12 boys 12 boys small medium boys
Roman 10 boys 10 boys 10 boys 10 small boys

I hope this helps. This is why we take the house mother with us- the sizes
are confusing to Judi and I (and Barry, well, he sits in the truck, waiting to carry the packages, happy he is not having to do the shopping. lol
Thank you again.

My husband and I sponsered one of the boys last year and attended their Christmas party and watched the boys open their gifts. They are so appreciative and well behaved. We enjoyed ourselves as much as the boys did. We are once again sponsering Luis this year and look forward to seeing him again.
Seeing how excited each boy was while opening his gifts was so satisfying. Please help as little or as much as you can. Be sure to come to their party. They loved having guests.

You described it wonderfully, Joyfull. I have never seen a group of young
boys/men better behaved and appreciative. I have to confess , that in
recent years, the "joy" (excuse the wording- no pun intended)of Christmas has been missing for me. I did not know what to expect, when we started the
Hope House Christmas party- but do know the boys gave me much, much
more, with their love and eagerness to have us there(they really love people
visiting) than I could have ever given them. Thank you for your kind post-
and am looking forward to seeing you and your husband again this year.
Please remember, everyone is welcome. We will provide transportation , to
and from, and no gift is necessary. I feel safe in promising a wonderful time will be had by all.
Christine, Barry and Judi

Edward Isaac, age 6 has a sponsor. Thank you so very much.
Christine, Barry and Judi

Jose Manuel, age 10 has a sponsor . Thank you very, very much.
Christine, Barry and Judi

I need to point out a typo on my part - One of the boys, not sponsored
is not Jose Maria, (age 7) but but Jose Mario ( age 7)
Sorry about that.
Christine , Barry and Judi

We now have a sponsor for Roman Jezemany, age 10. Thank you so very,
very much for you help.
Sincerely,
Christine, Barry and Judi

Thought it was time to amend the list for boys who do not have sponsors
yet, since the original post several of the boys have obtained sponsors:

Abel Yair Age 14
Brandon Alexis Age 4
Juan Antonio Age 9
Cristopher Daniel Age 4
Luis Carlos Age 15
Jose Mario Age 7

You may email me at heltonbcs@aol.com or call 762-1628 , if you wish to
sponsor any of these boys, or wish to make a donation( and no donation is
too small- these are pooled to sponsor a boy). We greatly appreciate the
response we have received from all.
Thank you so much .
Sincerely,
Christine, Barry and Judi

Juan Antonio , age 9, we are happy to announce, is now sponsored.
Thank you so very much!
Sincerely,
Christine, Barry and Judi

Abel Yair , age 14 , is now sponsored. Thank you very, very much!
Christine, Barry and Judi

First of all, I would like to say how very sorry we are for your loss. Our
thoughts are with you.
Due to a family's emergency, in the U.S., Abel Yair , age 14, is in need
of a sponsor.
Thank you very much.
Christine, Barry , Judi