Tag Archives: Chicken Breakfast

OMG! You ROCK!

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  • My Mazatlecan nieces made delicious brownies and packed them in mason jars, then sold them to raise money to buy toys. I am so proud of their caring for others.
  • Helen James had her birthday party and asked everyone attending to bring toys for Pollos’ kids instead of gifts. Thanks to her friends we have three garbage bags full of brand new gorgeous toys.
  • Kathryn Stillings, a friend and co-worker, requested that we donate to Pollos instead of giving her a Christmas gift this year.
  • Salsa and Salsa took up a collection for a second year in a row and donated the proceeds.
  • Friends went all around town to collect gift certificates and items for our raffles and the silent auction.
  • About a dozen different women sewed and crocheted items during the year to donate to Pollos. Hey, guys? You make things, too; I know you do! 😉 There is always next year.
  • My friends and nieces showed up to a charity breakfast and, when we were short on wait staff due to people not showing up, they volunteered to help (even though they’d paid for tickets).
  • Other friends volunteered to sell raffle tickets, even though they’d also paid to attend. So generous!
  • Jeanette Leraand sold dozens of tickets, brought her zumba group to entertain us at the breakfast, and conducted a 50/50 raffle, out of the generosity of her heart.
  • Sonrisas, a local charity that gives scholarships to deserving yet needy young people, donated items to help us. I donate my photos to their fundraiser calendar each year; what goes around comes around!
  • Nearly 400 people showed up this morning to a fundraiser breakfast. Nationals showed curiosity about our foreign customs (“what’s a silent auction and did I win?”), we expats learned about Mexican customs (“2 hours of door prizes?”) and we all enjoyed one another’s company and a common purpose.
  • And you, no doubt, did something awesome as well!

I could go on and on. We are so incredibly blessed in this community with people who love and give, who want to help others and act on that desire. God bless you all! And thank you Yolanda Medina, who started Desayuno de los Pollos 27 years ago in honor of her namesake daughter. Please know that 4000 families, many of whom live in houses constructed of lonas / vinyl, cardboard or recycled pallets, most of whom don’t have electricity or water, will eat well for two weeks at Christmas and New Year’s because of YOU!

An extended community of expats and foreigners sold 700 tickets to the Desayuno de los Pollos / Chicken Breakfast this year, and 100% of the money taken in (180 pesos/person) goes to buy whole chickens and food / despensas for needy families (food, preparation and serving are all donated). The silent auction that I’ve been in charge of, to which a whole community of people contribute, raised 38,000 pesos this year to buy food and chickens. All of this means your donations and purchases are helping feed families for two weeks at Christmas time! Bless you! You totally and completely rock!

Please patronize the businesses that support those in most need in our community. I will list some of them below. Many others contributed to the raffles but I don’t have your names; let me know and I’ll add you to the list. Please, next time you visit one of these businesses, thank them for supporting Desayuno de los Pollos and your Mazatlán community; tell them they are good community citizens and that you appreciate them.

Banda El Recodo
Tippy Toes Salon

Ana María Osuna Rose Massage
Azteca Inn
Casa de Leyendas
Chuy’s Organics
Gaia Bistrot
Galería de Rosy
Galería Uno
Irma Alicia Gastelúm Lizárraga, artista
Karen Devine
Martha Parra, artista
May Woodford, fiber artist
Quince Letras Wrought Iron
Ricardo’s Leather Shop
La Rosa de las Barras de Piaxtla
Wendy of the baby quilts

I don’t know the names of everyone who so generously contributed, so please let me know if yours is missing and I’ll add it in!

For those of you who want to help pack food, THANK YOU. The Medina family will start packing things next Wednesday, December 14th. You can head over to Quince Letras almost any day from then till the 24th to help; call one of them first to check. They are celebrating the weddings of TWO different children this year, so EXTRA KUDOS to their family for doing the “Chickens” this year as well! I no doubt would have cancelled for sanity’s sake.

We will see the rest of you on December 24th! Instructions are in the link. Blessed holidays! Just imagine what a wonderful world it would be if everyone were as generous and considerate of others as those involved in this effort. I like that thought; we might just grow some justice and equity in this world. It’s a pleasure to know you all and work with you.

Chicken Breakfast 2016

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Kids charming the camera woman while they line up for candy!

Want to have the best Christmas ever? Join us to bring joy to those in need! It’s a whole lot of fun, and a memory you will never forget!

Since 1990, Yolanda Medina and her family from the Quince Letras area of town have spearheaded an effort to feed those in need at Christmas time. In 2015, we fed over 3000 families with your help!

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Just some of the despensas—bags of food—ready to deliver in one of the trucks.

What is the “Chicken Breakfast?”
It is a two-step process to feed the neediest in our community.

First is a fundraising breakfast held in early December to raise money to buy one whole chicken and ten days’ worth of food for each family—we buy for as many families as we possibly can.

Second, on Christmas Eve morning (24 December), dozens of us gather together to load trucks and go out to the invasiones, the poorest, “squatter” areas of Mazatlán, to make people happy and hand out the goods! We give the chickens and foodstuffs, plus gently used clothing, linens, shoes, coats, and new toys and candy.

It is important to know that several of us go out to the squatter areas the week before Christmas. There we meet with area leaders and go around with them to hand out tickets, to ensure that those in need receive what they need, and that no one cheats or “double dips.” We especially want to ensure that we get food and clothes to the elderly and the disabled, so we go door to door to make sure everyone knows about the event, and to make plans to get things to those who can’t walk to the delivery site.

The history:

Yolanda Medina’s daughter, María Yolanda, was very sick. She and her husband kept vigil in the hospital, taking care of all their daughter’s needs. As Yoly’s sister-in-law Isa tells the story:

“It was Christmas Eve 1990, and María Yolanda’s days were counted. Yolanda and her late husband, Modesto, were in no mood to eat, let alone have a Christmas Dinner with all the fixings. But that night, a woman knocked on the hospital room door and peeked to see if there was someone with the patient. She came in to hand Yolanda and Modesto a box with a hot Christmas Dinner meal — and told them Merry Christmas and that God was with them. Yolanda never forgot that gesture.

After María Yolanda passed away, Yolanda got us all together and told us what had happened. So, the first couple of years, we had culinary arts students volunteer their time to prepare a Christmas Dinner meal, with donated ingredients from friends and family, and all of us volunteered to fill disposable thermal boxes with the hot dinners, load them into cars and pick-up trucks, and off we went, to hospitals, traffic intersections, parks — wherever we thought we might find people that, for one reason or another, wouldn’t be privy to a nice Christmas Dinner.

However, this was a huge effort, and very expensive, so we couldn’t cover that much ground. So we thought in terms of something more practical, something that could be cooked and prepared at home. This way, we could make sure many more families could have a Christmas Dinner. That’s when we started the Desayuno de los Pollos.”

How to help:

  1. Buy (or sell) tickets for the fundraising breakfast. Contact me at dianne@vidamaz.com, or buy them from anyone selling them around town. Post and Ship in the Golden Zone (beside Dolce Mami, across from FedEx) will have tickets also.
  2. Download a poster you can print out to help sell tickets or collect donations. Write on the poster with your details.
  3. Make crafts or baked goods to be sold at the bazaar during the breakfast.
  4. Donate (or gather) items for the silent auction (download a gift certificate, artwork, restaurant meals, hotel stays, airfares…)
  5. Help set up, cook, serve or clean up after the breakfast.
  6. Donate money (in person or click on the link), gently used clothing, diapers, lightly worn shoes, linens, blankets coats, new toys, or candy. 100% goes to those in need. Post and Ship will be happy to collect items if you drop them off there (beside Dolce Mami, across from FedEx).
  7. Help pack the food into packets—the week before Christmas.
  8. Help us load the trucks and deliver the goodies on December 24th! This is, of course, the most fun and a terrific tradition with friends and family.

When and where is the breakfast?
In 2016, it’s on Saturday December 10th, 8:30-10:30 am in the cruise ship dock/API. Please join us and bring all your friends! Your 180 peso ticket includes a full homemade breakfast, coffee and juice, a ticket for the door prize, a ticket for the raffle, and access to the Christmas bazaar.

API dock is on Emilio Barragón nearly across from the new OXXO. Below is a map. If you can’t find it, ask any taxi driver or blue shirt/Tourism Volunteer.

API

How can I get to Quince Letras on December 24th, or to help pack?
Come by 6:30 am if you are driving a truck, 7:00 am if you are helping us load and deliver. We usually finish by 11:30 or noon, but some years it’s taken longer (depends how many routes you participate in).

Quince Letras, corner of Tampico and Francisco Villas streets We load from either side of this

Quince Letras, corner of Tampico and Francisco Villas streets We load from either side of this “Coca Cola” store on the corner

LOCATION: 15 (QUINCE) LETRAS, corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico, just down the hill from the Church of Cristo Rey (Christ the King—photo below).

  1. From Avenida del Mar turn East at the Fisherman’s Monument.
  2. Go to the first light and turn right.
  3. Proceed one block and turn left (Francisco Villa street, just before the Pemex station).
  4. Go two blocks.
  5. If you are NOT driving a truck or transporting supplies, please park in the next block. This will give us room for loading. Once you’ve parked, walk another block down, past the iron works business called “Quince Letras.” On the corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico you will see a small store with a bright red “Coca Cola” hand painted on the outside, across from a tortillería. A door next to the Cocheras Automaticas business will be open. That’s Yolanda’s mother’s house, and it’s from there that we’ll be loading.
  6. If you are driving a truck or transporting supplies, please drive up to Tampico street (the “Coca Cola” store on your right on the corner), turn right, and park. We will be loading right there.

IMG_0669If you can’t find it, just ask someone for “Quince Letras” or “Desayuno de los Pollos/Medina family.” Everyone in the area will know.

Merry Christmas to all! And see you there!

  1. Download a poster you can print out to help sell tickets or collect donations. Thank you for your help!
  2. Download and view or use a PowerPoint presentation with a full explanation of the project: chicken-breakfast-presentation
  3. Download a gift certificate to fill out, and we’ll advertise your business or service at the breakfast! Just contact us and we’ll pick it up!

Have questions? Contact the organizers:

  • Jorge Medina (speaks English well) on his mobile, (669) 110-0744
  • Yolanda Medina (some English) at (669) 431-4529

“Chicken Breakfast” 2014!

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Last year we fed 2300 families, in Mazatlán’s poorest colonias: La Felicidad, Ampliación Felipe Angeles, Universo, Quinta Chapalita, Nuevo Milenio, Jardines del Valle, Villa Tutuli, Nuevo Cajeme, Montebello, Francisco I. Madero, Ladrillera, El Basurón, El Conchi 2, and the Ex-Hacienda de Urias. It’s a Christmas tradition dating back to 1990, spearheaded by our friend Yolanda Medina. It is the absolute BEST way we’ve found to celebrate the holiday here in Mazatlán. We are so grateful for this annual opportunity—locals and expats coming together, working shoulder to shoulder, to reach out and bring a smile to those less fortunate. I’ve met so many wonderful people through Desayuno de los Pollos, and have witnessed such strength of spirit. 2014 will be our eighth year participating. You can view photos of last year’s event here.

How did this whole effort start? And why in the world is it called “chicken breakfast” or desayuno de los pollos?

“It was Christmas Eve, and daughter María Yolanda’s days were numbered. Yolanda and her late husband, Modesto, were in no mood to eat, let alone have a Christmas dinner with all the fixings. But that night, a woman knocked on the hospital room door and peeked to see if there was someone with the patient. She came in to hand Yolanda and Modesto a box with a hot Christmas dinner — roll and all — and told them Merry Christmas and that God was with them. Yolanda never forgot that gesture.”

Yolanda, her husband and extended family started repeating that gesture for others, and over the past 25 years the project has morphed into two main parts:

  1. The handing out of whole chickens, 10 days’ worth of food, plus clothes, toys and candy, to inhabitants of Mazatlán’s poorest communities. This event takes place each December 24th.
  2. A fundraiser breakfast (not chicken! Usually eggs, chilaquiles, beans, breads, juice, coffee), held to raise money to buy the food. This event takes place each year in early December or late November.

Read the full story of the Chicken Breakfast here.

Would you like to join in this incredible effort? There are so many ways you can help!

  • Attend the fundraiser breakfast on the Saturday the 29th of November starting at 8:30 am (serving till 10:00 or so), at the cruise ship port (API on Agenda Emilio Barragán). Tickets are 150 pesos per person and include a full, home-cooked breakfast, a holiday bazaar of handicrafts and baked goods, a silent as well as a live auction, and a whole lot of socializing and fun. You can buy tickets by contacting me, Dianne Hofner Saphiere, or one of the many other people around town who sell them (Yolanda, Jorge and Isa Medina; Jeanette Leraand, Barbara Narvesian, Lana Reid…). If you can’t attend the breakfast, you can still make a donation. 100% of what you donate will go directly to helping, as everyone involved is volunteer. You can browse photos of last year’s breakfast here.
  • Help us gather great things for the live and silent auctions! Each year Jorge Medina makes at least one wrought-iron table for auction. We often have artwork, and many gift certificates to hotels, restaurants and shops around town. Last year we had an original artwork by Armando Nava, and a 2-night all-inclusive stay at El Cid Marina in the silent auction. You can view just a few of last year’s great prizes here. Many thanks to everyone who donates to support this cause! If you know a business that would like to participate, you can download blank gift certificates here. Once you fill it out, be sure to get it to me, Isa or one of the other key people so we can put it into the silent auction. Thank you!
  • Be a cook! Cut vegetables the night before the breakfast (November 28th), or be one of the cooks on the morning of the 29th! We’ve had several of our cooks move away, so we are in need. It’s a great way to learn to make some Mexican staples, and to meet some new local friends.
  • Help set up and clean up the breakfast (setting out plastic chairs and tables the night of the 28th, and stacking them up after the breakfast on the 29th). My husband Greg is still gimpy, so we will be short-handed this year and could use your help.
  • Help pack food into smaller packets (e.g., bulk rice and beans into baggies), during the week prior to December 24th. A group gathers at the Medina family home in Quince Letras nearly every evening.
  • Gather gently used or new toys and candy, to hand out to the children on the 24th. Last year we had so few toys, the sadness on the kids’ faces just broke my heart.
  • Gather your gently used clothing, shoes, blankets, and jackets to hand out on the 24th. Please get these to us ahead of time, so we can sort things in preparation for the big day.
  • Bring your truck or large vehicle on the 24th, to help us transport the frozen chickens, foodstuffs, and all the Santa-hatted people out to our poorer colonias. Again, please let us know ahead of time, so we can plan. Thank you!
  • Join us on the 24th, to be in one of the six or seven caravans of cars and trucks that go to the poor outskirts of the city to hand out food and goodies! Directions can be found here.
  • Donate any amount that moves you. We are all volunteers, so 100% of what you gift goes to help those who need it. Just click on the button on the upper right side of this VidaMaz blog.

It is a terrific event, and we very much look forward to joining in with those who participate in this annual tradition, as well as welcoming those who are new to it! If you have children or grandchildren with you, it’s especially important to teach them to reach out in this way, and to let them see how simply other people live. We look forward to having you join us.

Hometown Heroes

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About 400 hometown heroes attended the 21st annual “Chicken Breakfast”/Desayuno de los Pollos this morning at API, the cruise ship dock (photos in the slideshow above). Last year we were able to feed 2000 of Mazatlán’s most marginalized families, most of whom live in shelters made of recycled materials and have neither running water nor electricity. This year we are hoping to be able to give a whole chicken and 10 days of food to 2500 families, thanks to your goodwill!

The cooks chopped all afternoon and evening yesterday, and woke up at 4:00 this morning to continue their preparations. The event has had the same head cook since the very first year, and today she won one of the main raffle prizes! A small group of us set up tables, chairs and cook stoves last night, and then showed up about 7:00 this morning to set the tables, arrange the silent auction and the door prizes. Click on a photo to enlarge it or to view a slideshow.

Hanging the sign
Setting the tables
Setting tables
Almost ready…
Head cook
Serving the food
Learning about the prizes before announcing them
Prepping the grand prizes
Waiter extraordinaire
Announcing winners
Maestro Nava explains care of the artwork
Fun behind the scenes
Amparo and Dianne

For weeks we’ve been collecting gifts—raffle prizes, door prizes, and silent auction items—which provide entertainment during the breakfast and raise a whole lot of money with which to buy the chickens and food items. Many people have spent months sewing items to sell at the holiday bazaar. 100% of all money raised goes directly to purchase food items for the 24th; everyone is volunteer and no one is paid. The silent auction, the raffle and the bazaar are incredibly popular, as you can see in the photos below.

The very popular silent auction
And the also hugely successful holiday bazaar
Gotta get the raffle tickets!
Drawing the winners…
Two of our door prize winners
Drawing raffle tickets

The thrill of winning the special raffle is a joyful sight to behold. This year we had four big winners.

Grand prize winner: art original by Armando Nava
Second prize winner: marble topped wrought iron table
Third prize winner: glass topped wrought iron table
Fourth prize winner: wrought iron pot rack

People are also collecting gently used clothing, shoes, coats, blankets, stuffed animals and toys, as well as buying candy, to hand out in the colonías early on the morning of Noche Buena, Christmas Eve. That day, we will organize ourselves into seven or so routes to hand out the goodies. Prior to that, a small group of us will visit the colonías to meet with the community leaders, and walk around with them to give tickets to each family. This is the quality control, to ensure that each family gets food, but that no one “double dips.” The morning of the 24th, we will see long lines of people anxious for their Christmas dinner and gifts. And you have made this all possible.

Would you like to know how to join us? How to help out? Click this link for directions and instructions. We also have a few posts on this blog about the event on the 24th, with loads of photos. Just search on our site for “pollos” or “chicken.”

While planning for this morning’s breakfast took months, clean up happened in about 15 minutes, thanks to so many people pitching in! God bless you all, and especially the Medina family, for leading us in this effort these 21 years!

The night before
The morning after

Entrega de los Pollos/Handing out Chickens — Where/What Time

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Quince Letras, corner of Tampico and Francisco Villas streets
We load from either side of this “Coca Cola” store on the corner

Many, many thanks to all of you who attended the Desayuno de los Pollos/Breakfast of the Chickens earlier this month, who have donated money, collected clothing and toys, and who have worked hard this week packing up rice, beans, coffee, tomatoe paste, pasta, etc. Your kindness and efforts will help improve the lives of over 2000 families in Mazatlán who are less economically fortunate than ourselves.

I was over at Yolanda’s today, and they need a few more pickup trucks or even larger trucks to help us haul the frozen whole chickens. Please, if you have access to a truck and are willing to drive it on December 24th, would you contact Jorge Medina on his cell at 669-110-07-44 and let him know? Thank you! Please pass this request on to anyone you know with a truck. All who are driving: please have your trucks at Quince Letras downtown by 6:30 am on the 24th, latest by 7:00 am.

Several of you have asked us what time to show up on the morning of December 24th in order to help load the trucks and deliver the goodies out to the colonias. Those who have worked in the past and know the drill, please plan to show up about 6:30 am. Those of you who are first-timers, coming by about 7:00 am will put you there just in time to help us load. We make lines of people to pass the foodstuffs/despensas into the truck, and able-bodied guys load the boxes of frozen chickens.

That morning, please bring any additional used clothing in good condition that you have assembled (it’s best to take clothing over to Yolanda’s for sorting before that morning, if possible), any candy or toys you have for the kids. Donations that morning will also be welcome, as Yolanda has signed for some of the food on credit/faith.

DATE: December 24th

TIME: 6:30 am if you are driving a truck, 7:00 am if you are helping us load and deliver

LOCATION: 15 (QUINCE) LETRAS, corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico, just down the hill from the Church of Cristo Rey (Christ the King)

  1. Turn East at the Fisherman’s Monument.
  2. Go to the first light and turn right.
  3. Proceed one block and turn left (Francisco Villa street, just before the Pemex station).
  4. Go two blocks.
  5. If you are NOT driving a truck or transporting supplies, please park in the next block. This will give us room for loading. Once you’ve parked, walk another block down, past the iron works business called “Quince Letras.” On the corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico you will see a small store with a bright red “Coca Cola” hand painted on the outside, across from a tortillería. A door next to the Cocheras Automaticas business will be open. That’s Yolanda’s mother’s house, and it’s from there that we’ll be loading.
  6. If you ARE driving a truck or transporting supplies, please drive up to Tampico street (the “Coca Cola” store on your right on the corner), turn right, and park. We will be loading right there.

IMG_0669If you can’t find it, just ask someone for “Quince Letras” or “Desayuno de los Pollos/Medina family.” Everyone in the area will know. It is just down the hill from the Cristo Rey Church (photo at left).