Serving Hands International

Teach Them to Fish

Providing Sustenance through Education

Education can play a key role in freeing children from the cycle of poverty. In Mexico, no child attends school unless the parents pay attendance fees and purchase required supplies and official school uniforms. With hardly enough money to feed their families, much less to pay for school materials, the very poor are unable to pay for basic educational opportunities that might improve their children's futures.

Teach Them to Fish, a Serving Hands International program, seeks to provide needed school materials, uniforms, medical care, and nourishment for poor school children. Because students often arrive hungry, teachers requested that the program include in-school meals. In response, we currently provide daily meals for over 1,700 students in 12 Tijuana schools.

Participating families are interviewed to access their needs, and the children receive a physical examination. Our screening process revealed larger needs than we are currently meeting. To expand our efforts, Teach Them to Fish needs additional funds.

Our target for the coming school year is to serve 2000 needy children. In additional to cash donations, Serving Hands International seeks discounted or donated uniforms, shoes, school supplies, eye glasses and hearing aids.

Donors may be assured that 100% of their donation, along with a dollar for dollar match (up to a total of $1.5 million annually) is used solely for charitable projects. The organization's administration and overhead are covered by a separate Foundation.

Education offers hope for the future to the very poor. Please act to support this very worthwhile program.

Teach Them to Fish: 2004-2005 School Year Budget

Item Description

Cost per
Item

Number of
Items

Total Cost

In-School Meals*

$0.97

400,000

$388,000

Glasses/medical aids

$45.00

540

$24,300

Uniforms**

$70.00

1,200

$84,000

Sports uniforms***

$36.00

1,500

$54,000

Supplies

$35.00

1,350

$47,250

Registration

$25

575

$14,375

Projected Budget

$611,925

Serving Hands Match

$306,000

Current Need

$305,925

* 2,000 meals a day for 200 school days
** includes pants, shirt, vest, sweater, shoes, socks
***Includes exercise shorts, sweat suit, t-shirt, tennis shoes, socks

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