Asilo Scholarship Fund

Pleasanton, California

 Your help is needed to continue the education of junior and senior high school girls who have finished the elementary program at Asilo de San Jose in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico. Tulancingo is a Sister City of Pleasanton, California.  Asilo Scholarship Fund is a separate organization from the Pleasanton Tulancingo Association.

 WHO

Girls between the ages of 7 and 13 are selected by the Catholic Church to live at Asilo de San Jose and attend the associated elementary school next door. The girls are from dysfunctional, abusive, or non-existent families in the region around Tulancingo. Sometimes, in their indigenous villages, they have not even learned the Spanish language. They are among Mexico’s poorest and most vulnerable children.

 WHAT

Through Pleasanton’s Sister City relationship, the Sister City Association and individual members have provided partial support for the operation of the Asilo in Tulancingo. After many years, we asked “where do these girls go when they finish your sixth grade?”. The Sisters said “back to their bad family situations or into the streets”. A new need had been identified!

 WHEN

Three of us started a charitable organization in 2003 to raise money each summer to directly provide a new year of education and residential support for a few girls recommended by the Asilo’s Sisters as being qualified and deserving of more education. For 2006-07, we are supporting four girls: two in Junior High (“Secundaria”) and two that have reached High School (“Preparataria”). For 2007-08, our goal is to add one more recipient, requiring $5400 in new donations by June 30, 2007.

 WHERE

Tulancingo is one hour’s drive East of Mexico City. Its population is around 125,000, but there are no Junior High schools or High Schools that include residence halls. The Sisters at Asilo San Jose have recommended a Junior High 200 miles away in Irapuato and a High School 100 miles away in Puebla. The girls we support are succeeding at these schools with continuing transportation, counseling, and holiday residence assistance provided by the Sisters as needed.  In turn, these successful examples provide hope to all of the 40 to 45 younger girls still at Asilo de San Jose.

 WHY

Because we care. Because we know that an educated and safe girl will pay back much more to society in the long run than one without these benefits. Because we can directly monitor the girls’ progress by communicating directly with the Sisters and with our friends in Tulancingo. Perhaps some of the girls will take on a future role in carrying this scholarship effort forward. We currently make contributions as a group to each current group of girls. We do not provide donors with one-to-one sponsorships nor direct contact with any girls. We provide status reports to donors with names and photos under these conditions.

 WHAT NEXT?

Send your questions to Kent H. Pryor at kent.pryor@comcast.net, or Joe and Thelma Asbury at joeasbury@earthlink.net. Send your contributions to Asilo Scholarship Fund, 3425 Bernal Avenue, Pleasanton CA 94566-6859. All of the contributions go to the tuition, books, and uniforms for the girls. Materials and mailing costs are paid by the founders. Our Federal Tax ID is 94-3291276. We are pursuing our 501C3 approval as a charitable organization during 2007. The first step is the corporation application, which is pending in Sacramento. With contributions under $5000 per year so far, we have not needed to file IRS Form 990 for any year to maintain tax deductibility for donors. But with your help we will be able support more girls, so we welcome the additional paperwork! We have a checking account at Valley Community Bank in Pleasanton. We can provide references at the Bank or from the Sister City Association.

 Thank you for looking at the Web site for Asilo Scholarship Fund!