Leaders2Give

10/03/2026

Something we’ve been working toward at the Albergue para niños El Cardonal just became official.

The recognition came at both the municipal and state levels and it gives the home a new way to serve the community.

Read the full update here.

https://www.leaders2give.org/news/temporary-natural-disasters-shelter

As always, you’ll also find updates from our inspiring partner community — organizations working every day to support children and families in BCS.

East Cape Health Center Wonderland for Kids Crescent Moon Project - Art for Children New Creation Kids - Nueva Creaçion Niñas

The El Cardonal Children’s Home has always been about providing a safe place for children and families when they need it. Now, that purpose has taken on another form.

09/25/2026

URGENT COMMUNITY NOTICE:

The Board of Directors of Albergue para niños El Cardonal is closely monitoring and its projected path toward the Baja California Peninsula.

As of today, Hurricane Polo remains an exceptionally powerful Category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of approximately 160 mph (260 km/h).

Current forecasts indicate that the system is expected to move toward the Baja California Peninsula over the weekend, with the potential for significant rain, strong winds, dangerous seas and localized flooding. Forecast intensity and exact impacts remain subject to change.

In response, the Board of Leaders2Give has authorized facility Directors Belen Meza Sandez and Sara Maria Esparza Lucero to make the buildings available as a potential community emergency shelter, should conditions warrant, and are taking steps to ensure that the facility can safely accommodate children and families in need of refuge.

We are coordinating with Protección Civil and the Subdelegación to ensure that any activation of the facility is carried out in accordance with local emergency protocols and under the direction of the appropriate authorities.

Our immediate priorities are:

• Ensuring the safety and security of any families or children currently in our care
• Preparing the facility, supplies and emergency equipment
• Establishing protocols for receiving families from the surrounding community if a shelter is required
• Maintaining direct communication with Protección Civil and local authorities
• Monitoring official weather and emergency updates continuously

We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.

The safety of the children and our community comes first.

Please rely on official Protección Civil, CONAGUA and municipal/state government advisories for emergency instructions and evacuation orders.

09/13/2026

School in Mexico can unfortunately create a real financial burden for many families resulting in the difficult decision to choose between sending kids to school or other priorities.

The cost of uniforms, books, backpacks, supplies, transportation and tuition (depending on their age) is expensive and sometimes not possible.

Thanks for your incredible donor community we are incredibly proud to send the children of New Creation Kids - Nueva Creaçion Niñas Albergue para niños El Cardonal to school with everything they need again this year but without your support it would simply not be possible.

This year is especially difficult with the cost of other utilities like CFE climbing beyond reach would could mean turning off the power at some point because CFE is not part of the annual budget.

If you’d like to make a 501(c)(3) tax deductible donation and send a child to school please visit leaders2give. org and select New Creation Kids from the giving menu

Thank you

09/08/2026

Extra Extra Read all about it! This edition of is packed with important updates on Leaders2Give and our incredible partner community

The El Cardonal Children’s Home has continued to be a place of outreach, connection, and support for vulnerable children and families in Baja California Sur, while the Board carefully evaluates how the facility itself can best meet the needs of the community and reach its full potential.

08/04/2026

We're excited to see one of our longtime partners recognized on the international stage!

The Silicon Review recently featured East Cape Health Center in an article highlighting the clinic's remarkable growth and its commitment to bringing quality healthcare closer to the people who need it.

Having partnered with East Cape Health Center for many years, we've had a front-row seat as the clinic has expanded from providing primary medical care to offering laboratory services, diagnostic imaging, dental care, emergency services, specialist consultations, and so much more. It's encouraging to see that work being recognized beyond Baja California Sur.

Now they're working toward their next milestone: an Ambulatory Surgery Center.

The clinic already has the expertise. What it's missing is the infrastructure. An Ambulatory Surgery Center would allow many routine surgical procedures to be performed locally, reducing travel, lowering costs, and making care more accessible for patients and their families.

If you'd like to help make that vision a reality, donations can be made through Leaders2Give by noting "Ambulatory Surgery Center."

Every contribution helps bring quality healthcare one step closer to the families who rely on it.

👉 Donate here: leaders2give.org/donate

📖 You can also read The Silicon Review feature here: thesiliconreview.com/magazine/profile/east-cape-health-center-community-healthcare

08/01/2026

What happens when a trusted community clinic is ready to take the next big step?

This month, we're highlighting one of Leaders2Give's earliest partners and the exciting vision they're working toward for Mexico's, East Cape region.

As always, you’ll also find updates from our inspiring partner community — organizations working every day to support children and families in BCS.

East Cape Health Center, in BCS, Mexico was one of Leaders2Give's earliest partners. Their mission aligns closely with ours because we both believe that strong, healthy communities begin with access to basic needs. While our focus is on supporting vulnerable children and families, we know that quali

07/12/2026

Summer is in full swing.

Like many of you, my family and I have been enjoying the season—barbecues, kayaking, evenings with friends, and making time for the moments that matter. Many of our volunteer board members are doing the same.

At the same time, we remain in close contact with our facility management team at the Albergue para niños El Cardonal to make sure no call for help goes unanswered. The contrast can be striking: while we enjoy summer’s blessings, someone else may be facing the worst day of their life.

As I head into another busy week of business travel, I keep thinking about a call we received this weekend. It wasn’t about vacations or gatherings.

It was about a family in crisis.

A medical emergency had brought them hundreds of kilometres from home. A premature baby had been delivered by emergency cesarean and was fighting for life in intensive care. The parents were overwhelmed, and three young children and their grandmother suddenly had nowhere appropriate to stay. The hospital could accommodate the parents, but not the children.

Within minutes, our team was coordinating with hospital staff. When phone calls weren’t enough, they gathered the admission paperwork, drove to the hospital, met with the family, and worked alongside social workers to prepare for the possibility of bringing the children to our home.

In the end, the family chose another path. Once they learned the mother would be discharged later that day, but the baby had to stay they rented a small place near the hospital so they could stay together while their newborn continued receiving critical care.

Some might wonder why our home wasn’t used.

I see it differently.

Our purpose isn’t just to fill beds. It’s to protect vulnerable children and support families in crisis.

Sometimes the home will be full, and sometimes it won’t — but is that when a child needs a safe place to stay, when a family needs options, and when a crisis unfolds, we are ready to respond.

Over the past several months, we’ve noticed these calls becoming more frequent. They come from hospitals, social workers, and families facing urgent, heartbreaking situations.

Every case is different.

Some result in a child staying with us. Others are resolved another way. But every call deserves an immediate response.

I’m deeply grateful to our team Belen Meza Sandez and Sara Maria Esparza Lucero for dropping everything this weekend to help a family they had never met, and to the hospital staff who worked with them with compassion and urgency.

This is why the El Cardonal Children’s Home exists—not just to provide shelter, but to ensure that when a child or family faces an unexpected crisis, someone answers the phone, someone shows up, and someone is ready to help.

To everyone who supports this work, thank you.

Your generosity makes that possible.

07/04/2026

Happy Fourth of July to our American friends—and belated Happy Canada Day to our Canadian community!

This month’s Feel Good News shares what we learned from one family’s recent stay at the El Cardonal Children's Home, and why we are taking a closer look at how the home can best serve children and families going forward.

The purpose hasn’t changed. But the path might.

https://www.leaders2give.org/news/a-childs-recent-stay

As always, you’ll also find updates from our inspiring partner community — organizations working every day to support children and families in BCS.

[scroll down for Partner updates] A child recently stayed at the El Cardonal Children’s Home, but not for the reason you might think. He had been staying there with his mother after they needed a safe place because of domestic violence. The home was again fulfilling its mission: to be a place wh

06/24/2026

The attached article is in Spanish, but for my English-speaking friends, here’s the short version:

The article highlights the work being done at the Albergue para niños El Cardonal in Baja California Sur, a temporary refuge for children whose families are facing serious medical crises.

When a parent or sibling requires extended treatment, families are often forced into impossible choices about who will care for their children. The home provides a safe, stable place for those children while their families focus on healing.

Seeing this story featured in a major regional publication is meaningful because it shines a light on a challenge that too many families face quietly and alone.

What makes me most proud isn’t the publicity itself, but the people behind it. Our board is entirely volunteer. Every hour, every meeting, every challenge overcome has been driven by people who believe that vulnerable children deserve support during some of the hardest moments a family can face.

I’m especially grateful to Belen Meza Sandez and whose dedication, compassion, and persistence have helped turn an idea into a reality that is now serving families.

This work is often difficult. Building trust, developing partnerships, navigating regulations, fundraising, and responding to families in crisis can be emotionally demanding. But it is also deeply meaningful.

The children who have passed through our doors have taught us far more than we could ever teach them. They have shown us resilience in the face of uncertainty, courage in situations no child should have to navigate, and an incredible capacity to adapt and thrive when given safety, stability, and care.

Another lesson we have learned is just how much fear many parents carry about being separated from their children, even for a short time. In a country where missing children remains a serious concern, that fear is understandable.

As a board, we have listened, reflected, and adapted. In some cases, that has meant creating ways for mothers to remain with their children rather than requiring separation.

In doing so, we have been exposed to another reality: the significant number of women and children facing unstable housing situations, family breakdown, and domestic violence, and the shortage of safe places for them to turn.

While our mission remains focused on vulnerable children and families, these experiences have opened our eyes to gaps in the social support system that cannot be ignored.

One thing has become clear: the work is never finished. We continue to learn from every family we serve, and our volunteer board continues to reflect, adapt, and evolve so that we can respond to the real needs of vulnerable children and families in our community.

Most importantly, thank you to every donor, supporter, partner, and volunteer who has helped make this possible.

This recognition belongs to all of you.

What began as an idea has become a place where children can feel safe, cared for, and supported while their families focus on recovery.

Thank you for believing in this mission and for helping us ensure that no family has to face these challenges alone.

El espacio recibe temporalmente a niñas, niños y adolescentes de Baja California Sur cuyos padres o tutores deben atender enfermedades, accidentes o tratamientos médicos prolongados

06/07/2026

Today, our Board is considering another urgent request. This time to provide temporary accommodation and support to a mother and young child facing a difficult family situation.

If approved, they will be accommodated at the El Cardonal Children’s Home while the mother continues working and prepares for a safe transition over the coming weeks.

While the core mission of this facility is to provide temporary shelter for vulnerable children whose families are experiencing a medical crisis, we feel that we can responsibly expand its scope to serve additional vulnerable children and families until the facility reaches capacity.

Interestingly, this is the second request for emergency assistance we have received in as many days, reinforcing what many of us have suspected: there is a real and growing need in our community.

To make this possible, we are seeking volunteers who may be willing to help with childcare, activities for children, meal preparation, companionship, or other practical support.

To protect the privacy and dignity of those involved, we will not be sharing personal details publicly. All volunteer opportunities will be coordinated through Belen Meza Sandez and Sara Maria Esparza Lucero and subject to appropriate screening and safeguarding procedures.

We are also looking for people who may be interested in becoming part of a broader volunteer network or joining our Board as we continue to assess the community’s needs and the role the Children’s Home may be able to play in meeting them.

If you have time, skills, or simply a desire to help, please send us a private message.

Sometimes the most important thing a community can do is ensure that no child or parent has to face a crisis alone.