Fundraiser for Bomberos - revisited

Albeit late, thankfully it looks like I may have been proven wrong regarding my suspicions about the fundraiser held last Saturday in La Madera allegedly in benefit of the Bomberos for which reason I offer my sincerest heartfelt apologies to the organizers for any misunderstanding my until-now unanswered questions and comments might have generated. Perhaps next year my readers will be notified in a more timely and transparent fashion so that they might also participate in future events without doubts or hesitation.

Below is the information that I only received this afternoon.

A letter from Mr. Balta Ramírez:

My name is Balta Ramirez. I have been retired for about five years and have visited Zihuatanejo yearly for the last 16 years.

After my retirement in 2012, while visiting Zihuatanejo during early 2013, I was walking down one of the streets where an ambulance was being cleaned and disinfected. All of the equipment was sitting on the sidewalk. I stopped to chat and ask questions and when I asked where the defibrillator and vital signs monitor were, the ambulance operator said that they did not have any equipment of that type. He told me that only the hospitals have them and that the ambulances only transport patients. I was moved by that revelation and decided to put a campaign together and try to help. I told the ambulance operator that I was going back to California and I was going to try to help the next year, but made no promises.

After talking to my wife, friends and family, I decided to help acquire ambulance equipment for Zihuatanejo. We fronted the money to buy a defibrillator and a multi-parameter patient monitor and I told my wife that we might not recover our money. I was hoping that I would raise the money through donations to pay us back. It was tough going for a couple of months and then we began receiving donations. We were able to donate the first set of medical equipment, a defibrillator and a multi-parameter patient monitor to a private ambulance operator (same ambulance that I refered to above) during a street dance fundraiser in Zihuatanejo on February 12, 2014.

On February 2015 Fundraiser, we donated a defibrillator and a multi-parameter patient monitor to the Zihuatanejo Fire Department.

On February 2016 Fundraiser, we donated the same set of equipment to the Cruz Roja Mexicana of Zihuatanejo.

During the street dance fundraiser on February 2017, we donated the same set of equipment to the General Hospital of Zihuatanejo.

During the street dance fundraiser on February 2018, we donated the same set of equipment to the Zihuatanejo Fire Department.

I am committed to this worthy cause and will try to equip all of the non-private ambulances in Zihuatanejo. People have donated generously, have volunteered to plan the events and we have been able to donate a defibrillator and a multi-parameter patient monitor for the last five years.

Without your donations and help from all volunteers, this would not have been possible. Thank you all for keeping this fundraiser going.

February 15, 2019 will mark our sixth year donating this medical equipment to the ambulances, I believe you all should be proud of this accomplishment.

Our goal for the street fundraiser on February 15, 2019, is to donate the same equipment to another ambulance of the Cruz Roja Mexicana of Zihuatanejo.

This equipment helps provide better health care to the people of Zihuatanejo, as well as it's tourists that visit every year, perhaps one day it could save a life. It could be our own life or that of a loved one.

If you have not been able to attend one of these events, you are missing out on a lot of fun. Great entertainment, dancing in the street, food and drinks, all in one place. Plus the good feeling that you get when you are donating to a worthy cause.

Please donate to this worthy cause if you can. This is not a SCAM by any means. I can provide you with photos of the actual street fundraiser events and the beneficiaries of the equipment.

Sincerely,

Balta Ramirez