The extension of this year’s International Mariachi Festival to the lakeshore area did a lot more than delight a standing-room-only concert audience. It also generated a substantial chunk of change for the Chapala Red Cross.
On Monday, September 10, Cruz Roja officers gratefully received a 16,000-peso donation from Yolanda Martinez, event coordinator and Chapala delegate for the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce; Juan Carlos Anguiano, the chamber’s vice president and Eduardo Ramos, the local delegation’s manager.
“(Canaco) doesn’t just help businesses. We aim to support to the community in many ways. On this occasion we felt that Cruz Roja needed our help the most,” Martinez said as she presented a fat envelope to Lori Burnworth, treasurer of the Red Cross International Volunteers Committee.“Our broad vision encompasses social service as well as entrepreneurial initiative,” added Anguiano.
Cruz Roja Board President Oscar España added his congratulations. “We appreciate this gesture of everyone working together for the common good, of helping those who are most in need.”
Martinez has been stoking fires in the lakeside business community since taking charge of Canaco’s Chapala branch three months ago. Hitting the pavement almost daily after closing up her Ajijic beauty salon, she has launched a door-to-door campaign to extol the benefits of joining the chamber – such as access to expert advice on legal, fiscal and business matters, training courses for employees and management and free enrollment in the obligatory Mexican Business Sector System (SIEM). She has built strong ties with public security officials to help make the area a safer place to live and do business in.
So far Martinez has managed to quadruple the Canaco membership roll from 12 to 48 Lakeside affiliates. Although that’s still a long way from her goal of 500 and the ultimate aim of turning the area into a haven for entrepreneurs and residents alike, it’s a clear sign that her determination and efforts are starting to pay off.