Dear Friends and Supporters,
Thanks to your generosity, the International Friendship Club (IFC) continues to make a
meaningful difference across Puerto Vallarta. Here’s a snapshot of the impact we’ve
achieved together in 2025/2026:
Cleft Palate Clinics
For over 41 years, IFC’s cleft palate clinics have been transforming lives—providing
critical surgical care to children and families who would otherwise go without.
In a typical year, the IFC hosts three clinics, serving approximately 45 children per clinic,
along with their families. During the clinics, volunteer medical teams (surgeon,
anesthesiologist, nurse, admin) evaluate patients and perform between 3 and 10 life-
changing surgeries.
What makes this program truly remarkable is the community effort behind it. The IFC
contributes approximately 80,000 MXN per clinic for essential supplies and logistics, but
the true impact is far greater. Surgeons and medical staff generously donate their time,
CMQ Hospital provides surgical space, and local supporters step in to offer
transportation, lodging, and meals.
This powerful collaboration allows us to deliver high-quality care at minimal cost—
restoring smiles, improving health, and changing futures for children in our community.
Clínica de Rehabilitación Vallarta Santa Barbara
What the Charity Does: For over 40 years, the clinic has provided specialized physical,
language, and rehabilitative therapies to low-income children and adults. With a
professional staff including a specialist doctor and five physiotherapists, they treat
conditions ranging from childhood cerebral palsy and genetic syndromes to adult stroke
recovery and muscle injuries.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The 2026 grant of $50,000 MXN is designated to
provide “becas” or extra funding for clients who could not otherwise afford treatment.
Funding Impact:
• Treatment Capacity: In 2025, the clinic successfully delivered 10,623 treatments
and 940 doctor consultations to a total of 915 persons.
• Direct Patient Support: This year’s funding provided "becas" (scholarships) that
allowed 40 additional high-need individuals to receive their full treatment for a
period of two months.
• Demographic Reach: Funding supports a diverse age range from 6 months to 86
years, filling a critical gap for adolescents and adults who cannot be seen at
other local pediatric-only facilities.
Casa Hogar Máximo Cornejo
What the Charity Does: This facility operates as a 24/7 shelter for children from infancy
to age 18 who cannot live at home due to various social or economic vulnerabilities. The
center provides a comprehensive living environment, including housing, nutrition,
education, and medical supervision.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN IFC grant is utilized for essential
daily operations and facility improvements. This includes food, utilities (gas and
electricity), and specialized needs such as a divider for the girls’ bedroom and a shaded
awning for the playground area.
Funding Impact:
• Stable Residency: Provides 24-hour care and a safe environment for 26 children
(11 boys and 15 girls).
• Preventative Health: Funding facilitates monthly medical check-ups by a visiting
doctor to ensure the ongoing physical and emotional well-being of every resident.
• Educational Support: Beyond housing, the grant helps cover the fuel costs for
daily transportation to local schools, ensuring no child’s education is interrupted
by their living situation.
Dives en Misericordia
What the Charity Does: Operating as a "Casa de Día" (Day Home), this organization
supports single mothers, elderly people who can no longer work, and vulnerable
families by providing childcare from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM. They offer a secure
environment where children receive nutrition and supervision while their parents work.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN grant is specifically dedicated to
the purchase and preparation of daily meals for the children and the distribution of
"despensas" (food baskets) for vulnerable families.
• Funding Impact: Community Support: Serves a total of 429 persons, including
children in daily care and elderly people who receive food and medicine.
• Essential Nutrition: Ensures that children receive consistent, balanced meals
throughout the day, directly addressing local food insecurity.
• Family Labor Integration: By providing reliable 11-hour daily care, the
organization enables hundreds of parents to maintain employment and improve
their family's economic stability.
Pasitos de Luz
What the Charity Does: This organization provides free specialized rehabilitation and
educational services for children with physical and neurological disabilities. Their holistic
approach includes physiotherapy, nutrition, and psychological support for both the
children and their families.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $45,000 MXN grant is allocated to the
hydrotherapy program. This specialized treatment is vital for improving muscle tone and
mobility in children with complex clinical conditions but is offered at no cost to the
families.
Funding Impact:
• Therapeutic Reach: Supports the specialized care of 130 children currently
enrolled in the clinic’s programs.
• Family Impact: Directly benefits 80 families who rely on the hydrotherapy pool as
a cornerstone of their child's long-term rehabilitation plan.
• Health and Values: In addition to physical therapy, the program integrates music
and values-based education, contributing to the comprehensive development of
children from birth to 13 years old.
Santa Esperanza Children’s Shelter (RISE)
What the Charity Does: RISE is a non-profit shelter providing 24/7 care for babies and
children who have been placed in protective custody. The facility focuses on providing a
family-like atmosphere where children receive 100% of their nutritional, medical, and
educational needs.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN allocation is dedicated to the
nutrition program, specifically covering the cost of food and specialized formula for
infants and growing children.
Funding Impact:
• Operational Sustainability: Funding helps bridge the gap in a high-overhead
environment that requires a 15-person specialized staff to maintain 24-hour
coverage and social services.
• Health Outcomes: Ensures that vulnerable infants, who often arrive with
nutritional deficiencies, receive immediate and consistent specialized dietary
support.
Ejercito de Salvación (Salvation Army)
What the Charity Does: The local chapter operates a community kitchen and
educational support center in the Las Mojoneras colonia, focusing on providing a safe
space and nutritional foundation for children in an underserved neighborhood.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN grant is used for food and daily
operations, enabling the kitchen to function as a reliable source of nutrition for
neighborhood children.
Funding Impact:
• Nutritional Baseline: Provides daily lunches for 50–60 children, with the current
capacity and funding targeted toward reaching a goal of 100 children per day.
Vallarta Cares
What the Charity Does: This humanitarian organization provides a "safety net" for the
local community through a soup kitchen, public showers, and a medical/dental clinic.
They also act as first responders for marginalized communities during climate
emergencies.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN IFC grant is designated to expand
the soup kitchen’s operations, specifically funding one additional day of soup kitchen
service per week for five months specifically through low season (May -October).
Funding Impact:
• Direct Expansion: Increases total service capacity by 20 service days over five
months, providing an additional day of food security for the community.
Vallarta Abuelos
What the Charity Does: Vallarta Abuelos focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty
through education. They provide at-risk children with the tools they need to stay in
school, including school supplies, uniforms, and cultural enrichment programs.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The IFC grant of $40,000 MXN is utilized for the
"Backpack and School Supplies" program, which ensures that children from low-income
families have the required materials to enroll in and attend school.
Funding Impact:
• Enrollment Access: The program helps provide fully equipped backpacks and
school supplies for up to 700 children.
• Targeted Assistance: Focuses on a specific demographic of "at-risk" students
who are most likely to drop out due to the hidden costs of "free" public education.
Aid to Families of Children with Cancer (AFCC)
What the Charity Does: This organization provides a vital support system for low-
income families navigating a pediatric cancer diagnosis. They focus on the logistical and
nutritional burdens that often prevent children from completing their life-saving
treatments.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN grant is used for transportation
costs to Guadalajara for medical treatments and for providing monthly "despensas"
(food baskets) to the families. This year an additional $20,000 MXN grant was awarded
in 2026 to provide scholarship assistance to families of children with cancer.
Funding Impact:
• Treatment Adherence: Provides essential transportation support for 23 families
who must travel to Guadalajara to access specialized oncology care not available
locally.
• Nutritional Stability: AFCC distributes monthly food baskets to these families,
ensuring that the family remains nourished while diverting their limited income
toward medical needs.
• Education: Enable families to meet the expense of schooling.
Instituto de Artes Musicales de Puerto Vallarta (IAMPV)
What the Charity Does: This organization provides music education, instrument
training, and performance opportunities to children, young adults, and the community. It
aims to transform lives, particularly for underserved youth, by providing free or
subsidized music lessons, instrument loans, and scholarships.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN grant is used by IAMPV to help
pay for instruments and teachers.
Funding Impact: IAMPV have a paid staff of ten teachers that teach 100 students.
• IFC funding also helps to supply needs for 50 members of the orchestra and 50
members of the chorale
• Through the orchestra concerts, IAMPV reaches about 5,000 people throughout
the year.
Volcanes Community School (VCS)
What the Charity Does: The Volcanes Community School (VCS) provides free, high-
quality educational programs to children, youth and adults in Puerto Vallarta. Operating
in partnership with the local public school, VCS offers both morning and afternoon
classes that complement the government’s half-day school schedule, ensuring students
have access to a full day of learning. Through Spanish academic support, English,
computer literacy, music, and scholarship programs, VCS serves approximately 300
students each year, helping them stay in school and build brighter futures.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN International Friendship Club (IFC)
grant helps The Volcanes Community School fund teacher salaries for its educational
programs, ensuring students continue to receive high-quality instruction throughout the
school year.
Funding Impact:
The IFC grant directly supports the educators who make our programs possible.
Through this investment, The Volcanes Community School serves approximately 300
students annually with a multidisciplinary educational program that includes:
• Two English teachers providing instruction to approximately 220 students.
• Two Spanish teachers providing academic support to approximately 300
students.
• One computer teacher serving approximately 280 students through digital literacy
classes.
• One music teacher leading our symphonic orchestra program, giving students
the opportunity to develop musical skills, teamwork, and confidence.
American School of Puerto Vallarta Leer y Crecer (Read & Grow)
Program
What the Charity Does: Leer y Crecer is a student-led service program based at the
American School of Puerto Vallarta (ASPV) that promotes literacy in public and rural
schools. It supports education by donating books, creating library spaces, and providing
training for local teachers in reading advocacy.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $55,000 MXN IFC grant helps Leer y Crecer
support five schools with books and teacher training. These five schools were equipped
through the adaptation of existing spaces for use as libraries. The average number of
students per school is 200, resulting in a total of 1,000 students.
Funding Impact:
• With funds donated by IFC approximately400 books were donated to the
schools.
Wixárika Research Center
What the Charity Does: The Wixárika Research Center is a non-profit organization and
digital archive dedicated to protecting the culture, sacred lands, and natural resources
of the Wixárika (Huichol) people in Mexico. It provides an online repository of art,
history, and academic documents while supporting local education, sustainability
projects, and indigenous autonomy.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $60,000 MXN IFC grant given to the Wixárika
Research Center is used to support seven indigenous university students with the
expenses of attending university.
Funding Impact:
• Students use the funds to support a variety of needs: administrative university
costs, school materials and equipment, transportation to and from school,
internet costs, rent, food.
Vallarta School for Girls
What the Charity Does: The Vallarta School for Girls, operated by the Girls Education
Fund, provides free, high-quality, bilingual education (grades 3–12) and comprehensive
support to girls from underserved communities in Puerto Vallarta. It empowers students
to break the cycle of poverty through academic, health, and life-skills education.
Students are age 7-18 who are unable to attend school due to financial challenges are
supported.
What IFC Funding Is Used For: The $40,000 MXN IFC grant given to the Vallarta
School for Girls helps support learning with school supplies (pens, markers, notebooks,
paper) for the 40 students at the school.
Funding Impact:
• Last spring 9 Seniors graduated, and all went on to higher education with full
scholarships.
• Full education, books, uniforms, school supplies and 2 meals daily are supplied.
Alas Escuela de Canto (Wings, School of Song)
What the Charity Does: Alas Escuela de Canto is a performing arts academy that
provides vocal training and musical education for at-risk children, teenagers, and adults
in Puerto Vallarta. They are offered a safe place to learn singing, dancing and
instrument playing. The Alas group performs all over Puerto Vallarta, especially during
the Christmas season, singing at tree-lighting celebrations.
What Our Funding Is Used For: The $50,000 MXN IFC grant is used to buy uniforms,
instruments and pay teachers.
Funding Impact:
• Currently there are 36 children, 22 teens, 15 adults benefiting from the program.