For those of you who aren’t aware yet, the Chapala Chapter of Cruz Roja (Red Cross) is in serious financial difficulty. Several weeks ago, Cruz Roja was unable to meet the payroll and had considerable outstanding bills to their suppliers.
The cost of operating the facility’s clinic and ambulances is considerably more than the income received from patients.
The Red Cross will not refuse treatment to anyone but many Mexican patients are unable to pay for the services.
The Cruz Roja International Volunteers organization works hard all year organizing fund-raising events to try to make up for the financial shortfall each month. But as hard as the volunteers work, they are still coming up short.
A concerted effort to obtain more donations from the local community, especially Mexican businesses, is being made by Oscar España Ramos, the new president of the volunteers, as well as the board of directors of the Chapala Delegation.
Thanks to some additional fundraising events, the volunteers are having some success and are catching up on the backpay of the employees. However, more donations are necessary.
The board is also considering reducing services offered by the clinic and possibly the number of employees. What they do not want to do is to reduce the critical ambulance services and the number of paramedics.
Remember, Cruz Roja is not a charity,” said Volunteers treasurer Charlie Klestadt. “It is a necessary service to the community – a service that any of us could someday have need of. Consider what you would do if you had a medical emergency and there was no Cruz Roja to call.”
Klestadt is encouraging everyone to consider making a donation at this critical time. There are a number of ways to donate: Drop money in the clear canisters found in many Lakeside locations.
Deposit money in the Cruz Roja Account #504688 at Actinver-Lloyd.
Drop off your cash or check donation at the Cruz Roja table at the Lake Chapala Society between 10 a.m. and noon.
To obtain a tax deduction on donations made by checks locally, make out checks in United States or Canadian currency to CRIVC, Inc. CRIVC, Inc is a United States tax-exempt non-profit corporation under Section 501(c) 3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code.