Casi Nuevo Thrift Shop News: A volunteer speaks �Hi, my name is Marty and I volunteer once a week at Casi Nuevo (almost new) Thrift Store on the corner with the red door in Riberas across from the 7/11. We have now become a consignment store for all of your furnishings and household items - where you the donor receives 70% of the sale. I knew about our charities: School for the Deaf and Children with Special Needs, Have Hammers.... Will Travel and LCS Community Education Program, but had never been to any of them. So, I decided visits were in order. A couple of us went to Have Hammers... Will Travel in Ajijic. We observed classes of 10 to 14 year-olds making serving trays out of wood. It was wonderful to see such young hands so eager to accomplish beautiful carvings with such pride. The teacher was incredibly impressive with his master’s knowledge of woodworking and his emphasis on safety. Next month I plan to visit LCS’ Wilkes Education Center so I will have an even better understanding of just why I am volunteering. My experiences have given me and my fellow volunteers renewed interest and energy when working at our little thrift store. It’s great to meet new people and practice my Spanish, which is well and good, but the real reward was the actual experience of knowing how the sales I make once a week are being used. This has been an incredible learning experience for me. Please visit our store on the carreterra in Riberas and see for yourself how many people support our charities through their donations.�
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According to our cat wrangler, there is good news about the kitty situation. Cinder’s operation went very well and she is able to see much better... so much so that she is now hassling the other cats, a real role reversal. So far, we have 750 pesos in the kitty (so to speak), but we need to bring that number up to 1,000 pesos for cat food, care and comfort. Contributions may be at the Cruz Roja table or >
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El Ojo del Lago / May 2012
Library Update Many of you who participated in the recent online survey had questions or concerns about the library and its operations, so we will be updating our activities in this column monthly. What happens to books donated to the library? Donations form over half of our collections, but all donations are not created equal. When you donate, several things are set in motion. The workroom staff evaluates each donation by age, condition, and whether it is a duplicate of an existing title. If it’s a classic, we usually keep it unless we have a copy. If not, it goes into the “accessioning� process where we enter it into the library database, attach barcode numbers, spine labels, and date-due slips. We may keep a duplicate title as a back-up copy since popular titles do wear out. Older books are often added to our collection, but if they are related to medical issues or other topics where new research renders them outdated, they are usually sold at our semi-annual book sales or through the reading room. We have to be selective as to what we keep; we have limited space and want to use it in the most effective way.In the past year, we added an average of over 200 new titles to the library collection each month. Books we don’t keep are sold or donated to other educational programs. here at lakeside. We appreciate donations at any time.
SPANISH CLASSES The next seven week term of Spanish language classes begins on Monday, May 7th. LCS uses the Warren Hardy Spanish language course designed for the adult reader. Register at LCS on Tuesdays and Fridays, between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, and on the blue umbrella patio on Monday, April 30 through Friday, May 4, between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Class schedules, LCS membership requirements, tuition, policies and materials needed, as well as additional information is on the LCS website at www. LakeChapalaSociety.org. or call 766-1140
CAN-AM FUND RAISER CAN USE A LITTLE HELP The Can-Am Fundraiser is in the planning stage and needs your help. Our celebration is scheduled to take place on July 3rd between 10 am and 4 pm. The fundraising committee needs committed volunteers who can work on this project part of May, and June and through July. The criteria: adequate computer and printer skills, possible prior experience in event planning, decorating, budgets, and writing publicity articles.