Detained in Mexican Customs area at US/Mexcio border 6/26/10

Here I am leaving the Mexican Customs Secondary inspection/holding area.

I tagged along and helped with a long established organization, Club Dust. Club Dust has been going to the Tijuana and Tecate region of northern Mexico since the 80's. Visit their website www.clubdust.org. They are faith based but are not in your face preaching either. I consider them to be some of my greatest friends. They are a lot of fun and have found it an incredible experience to go on their day trips. On a typical trip they will build a new house for a family sometimes two or three in one day!! All the lumber is donated and purchased at cost from a distributor in Mexico. There is ZERO over head costs in this organization. If you donate a house ($1,700) you are encouraged to go and help build it as well!

All donations of food and toys brought by me on my own accord were provided by A Foundation for Kids, a secular, Southern California based non-profit organization.(www.4kidsfoundation.org) They have provided at least a pallet worth of food and supplies the 6 or 7 times I have made the trip. The communities we assist are typically squatter communities and are on land owned by the railroad company of Mexico. A Foundation for Kids has been helping communities in So Cal for over decade. Please see their video on my other videos.

Crossing the donations with my own vehicle has been a challenge all on its own. The blame lies mainly on the difficult process bureaucratic maze one must navigate to lawfully import donations of any significant quantity. While crossing I have gone through with out any hassle, I have gotten the infamous red light in the ridicules random search system operated by Mexican Customs, and I have gotten the green light and pulled over anyway because of the obvious amount of cargo I was carrying. Either way, every time I got inspected I explained to the customs officer that I was importing food for donations and showed him pictures on my phone. He then reduced my fine to $40 to import thousands of dollars worth of goods! On one occasion the lady was happy about or intentions so she reduced it to $30. This money was then paid at teller. I was given my receipt and left the inspection area.

Setting up the donation site has also been a learning experience. In the beginning we would try to make a line and eventually people start surrounding you and it begins to feel like a "free for all riot". After that experience I began to rope of the donation area and give tickets on a first come first serve basis and we began to bag grocery bags or baby care product bags.

If you have the opportunity I truly recommend helping out A Foundation for Kids and Club Dust. I guarantee it will be one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Charity
• donations
• Kids
• Mexico
• house building