Hawaiian Shirts, Grass Skirts
Halter Tops, Flip Flops
Bathing Suits, Fresh Fruits
Fundraiser to benefit Bill y Bob Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center, A.C.
THE STORY: About 4 years ago Warren and Jean Scheifele helped start the first year-round English Speaking non-denominational church in Manzanillo, now known as the Church of Hope, located above the Maria Cumbé Boutique in Salagua.
During 2009 two graduates of the Bill y Bob Rehabilitation Center started attending church services. About one month later, the American, James Holcroft, approached Jean and Warren to see if there was any way the church could help with the center, as they were having difficulty putting sufficient rice and beans on the table, let alone paying rent.
Upon inspection, the Scheifeles
found 30 young men and boys in their teens (some as young as 11) sleeping on
concrete floors in two upstairs rooms of a tiny house. The one room also served
as their lecture hall in the daytime. Adjacent were
another 7 girls sleeping in a tiny bathroom.
(Bill y Bob's is based on
AA's program of spiritual and character development,
The Twelve Steps.)
The Scheifeles then took up a collections and bought sleeping pads for the floor, ceiling fans, food, paint and a few other basics. The church committed to supply them with 25 kilos/month of rice, and 50 kilos of beans. At about the same time as the Sheifeles help, Susan Dearing also learned of their plight, and brought over old pillows, sheets, blankets, a TV, and food, once even cooking a huge pot of spaghetti for the young men and women struggling to beat their addictions. Read more.
Warren and Jean also talked with their bilingual pastor, and he volunteered to hold church services on the one free day, and found the vast majority of young people in the center committed their lives to Christ, acknowledging they had made a mess of things and wanted to start over. The other 6 days they have lectures and counseling from early morning to late in the evening with the same goal in mind.
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The director, José Raul Cardenas Mora has an amazing story of how and why he turned his life around: "One day, over 4 years ago, when I was still an addict, my family was on a bus going to Colima. I was notified that the bus had been involved in an accident, and overturned, and that several people had been killed. "I immediately went to God and promised that if He would bring my wife and family back to me safely, I would quit my addiction and start a rehab center." Raul's family did return safely. Raul straightened up, and instead of starting a new center, took over the directorship of Bill y Bob's from someone who wanted out. (Bill y Bob's is named after the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith.) |
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Recently, they held their 4th anniversary, and it was inspiring to meet a number of graduates and their families, who, like Raul, have straightened up and changed their lives and become useful citizens. (The success rate for Bill y Bob's graduates is almost 40%, in comparison to only 4-6% of other rehab centers throughout the U.S. and Mexico, according to statistics found on the internet. If you figure that approximately 5% of these "successes" probably would have done so with or without going into rehab, the statistics are very grim indeed. In other words, rehab centers mostly don't work.)
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Graduates of Bill y Bob's agree to become "padrones," and support the center. The Center gets no government help, and does not charge anyone admitted, many of whom would still be on the street or in jail, had they not been rescued. In 4 years they have graduated approximately 500 young men and women, boys and girls. Their small building was greatly overpopulated because of their amazing success rate, which inspired police and others to bring addicts from other cities and even neighboring states. |
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Some months back the Center was given an eviction notice to either buy the facility or move. They had no money to purchase anything, nor could they afford to rent anything else that was available. During the course of looking, however, the board members learned of a great property--a 5,000+ sq. ft. house with a 3-car garage, pool, and an outbuilding suitable for occupational training. The were many mature fruit trees on the half-acre lot. |
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The Scheifele's son Andrew and wife
Wendy happened to be visiting at the time, and together the family agreed to buy
the property, and the 30-40 young men and women suddenly grew to 70+ just before
Christmas 2010. All patients were allowed to go home to visit their families for the holidays. |
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Although the new facility has great
potential, it is a work in progress. In the old facility, it was necessary to
release some of the interns before they were ready just to make room for more
critical cases.
Unfortunately, since the flow of new patients has accelerated, there are now twice as many mouths to feed, and, thus, the reason for the not-for-profit organization's first annual Hawaiian Luau! |
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THE EVENT: Join us in our celebration of the grand opening of Bill y Bob Rehabilitation Center, a Mexican not-for-profit A.C. Support a need that goes straight to the heart of our community—an organization based on the teachings of AA—with the highest success rate of any private- or government-funded agency.
As you enter our Luau Party, you’ll be greeted with a Hawaiian Lei—handcrafted by the young men and women at the center, and a Hawaiian Aloha Cocktail.
Hawaiian Buffet Menu:
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Activities:
When: Friday, Jan. 28, 2011,
1-6 p.m.
Where: Pedro’s Cazuela
Cost $150 pesos $200 pesos after Jan. 26
Give back to your community by giving our young people a second chance!
Ticket sales: Eric Kassian, cell
044-314-338-4765
Jean Scheifele, 335-1064
Susan Dearing, Nextel: 120-2667, I.D. 62*2127047*3
Volunteers needed! Donations Welcome!
