Chapala Red Cross volunteers will take to the streets as of this weekend to seek cash donations from passing motorists. The annual roadside fund-raising campaign is slated to continue through April 15, spanning the busy Easter holiday tourist season.
Mayor Jesus Cabrera and first lady Dora Irma Cervantes presided at the official kick off of the 2012 Cruz Roja Colecta, held in the mayor’s office Monday, March 12. Chapala Red Cross administrator Ramon Ledesma presented them both with polo shirts bearing Cruz Roja insigna. Cervantes then nudged her husband and other city officials to drop bills and coins into one of the distinctive donation containers.
“Our goal is to surpass the 95,000 pesos we brought in during last year’s month-long campaign,” declared Cruz Roja Chapala administrator Ramon Ledesma, expresseing hope that visitors and residents alike will give generously. “With as little as a five peso donation from every inhabitant, we could go a long way towards rectifying our rocky finances.”Look for volunteers posted at the speed bumps opposite Chapala’s Soriana supermarket, at the intersection of the Chapala-Jocotepec highway and the Libramineto bypass and the speed bumps at the Piedra Barrenada restaurant row in San Juan Cosala.