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Latest News
The Bishop's Casa Toy Chest Toy Drive 2012
By Daniel Cohn
Spirit of Casa thanks The Bishop’s School community for
their continued and unwavering support of the children at the Casa de la
Esperanza Orphanage. This year, fifty-five children each received gifts,
carefully wrapped by the dedicated volunteers at the Bishop’s Community
Service Initiative (CSI). Gift requests included soccer balls, UNO cards,
baby dolls and Hot Wheels cars. Following in the tradition of years past,
all of the children signed the “Casa Kids Thank you Card,” which was
presented to Ms. Joan Heylman, Bishop’s Community Service Director,
during all-school announcements.
Gracias Bishop’s!
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Dr. Melanie Parker: Keeping Dreams Alive and Maintaining Bright Smiles
By Daniel Cohn
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Spirit of Casa, Inc. is pleased to announce its 2012 educational
scholarship recipients. Six Casa orphans will receive full scholarships
for the 2012-2013 school year thanks to the cotinued support and generosity
of Dr. Melanie Parker. The six awardees include 2 primary students, 2 secondary
students, 1 high school student, and a cosmetology student. To date, Dr. Parker
has sponsored the education of 21 children. In addition to her scholarship
donations, Dr. Parker recently sent more than sixty dental hygiene kits to the
orphanage for the children. Thank you, Dr. Parker for your endless support of Casa's kids!
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Casa 2011: A Year in Reflection
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Lew Merrim: In Memoriam
By Ronn Garton
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I shared a friendship with Lew Merrim, during his retirement days in La Jolla that
spanned about 25 years. We met in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where we shared a homestay with
the family of Guadalupe Lomeli and her two children. Although we both were from La Jolla, we had never met.
Both of us had ventured to Mexico for a winter Spanish Immersion course. Our friendship began
over a mutual quest and delight in all things Latino. |
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I introduced him to the Casa de la Esperanza, the Presbyterian orphanage in
Tijuana. Soon, he was a regular on the monthly bus trips to the Casa, where we became “Los Amigos
de La Jolla.” Lew continued these Tijuana trips right up to his final illness. He rode shot-gun
to Terry Senty’s piloting. He often helped prepare the lunch, where his military training lent
some order to Mexican manana. Lew missed very few Casa trips over the course of 20 plus years.
He always took his trusty camera with him. The children were his subjects. They posed and he
captured their innocent faces, and in the process, he became an important person in their lives,
and they in his.
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Orphans adopt visitors easily. Lew was gifted with an ever-enlarging family and,
no doubt, could easily have applied for Mexican citizenship, on the basis of these relationships.
Often the van would be met with gritos…..”Luis, Hola Luis!” His hundreds of portraits taken of
children at the Casa, made their way into yearly calendars that were sent all over the world, in
pursuit of donations to keep the children fed, clothed and educated. I brought a few of these
calendars today so that you might see them. More permanent reproductions of these photos adorn
the walls of the Casa comedor, as a memorial to two of the three most important ladies of Lew’s
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He took one memorable van trip with the Casa kids that took them all the way to
Mexico City. Once again, Luis rode in the passenger seat in the front of the van, only this
time, behind him were all manner of young followers singing and jostling each other kilometer
after kilometer, for days. They ate simple, communal meals in church halls and everyone slept
on the floor at night. The children sang for their supper and Luis captured it all on film.
The only sad note on this trip was that the Casa Photographer was mugged in Mexico City and lost
his wallet with all of its contents. He said something to the effect that if it had been
Brooklyn, he would have lost his pants as well. He was undaunted.
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Lew and I made four trips together through the years. We stayed in Oaxaca,
San Miguel de Allende, and last year we traveled to Lima, Peru. During these times, I prompted
Lew to tell the stories of his youth, his Army career, of his participation in the liberation of
Italy, France, and the German Concentration Camps. His final military service involved the
liberation of Norway. After WWII he studied at Grenoble in France, before returning to Brooklyn.
He told the stories of his courtship of Louise and the birth of his daughters, his early day
struggles with starting a business in New York, his move to Port Washington and family life there,
and then the Merrim decision to move West for a new beginning and retirement. He loved his wife
and his daughters and felt he had been blessed by them. He admitted that Louise was a tough
cookie and that his daughters were smarter than he was….and somehow this made him happy.
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Some of his final words to me were to the fact that his life had been good and
he had accomplished everything he wanted to do. He was ready to fold his tent. I believe he is
in God’s hands. And I know no better place to be. “Que te vaya bien, Luis!”
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Casa Character Art
By David Cohn
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A character art contest was held at Casa during the July monthly trip. Each child
was encouaged to create their own imaginary character. Some children gave their zany figures comical
names. Smiles were abundant as the winners were announced. Congratulations to all of the young
artists! Job well done!
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The Bishop’s School Casa Toy Chest Toy Drive 2011
By David Cohn
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Spirit of Casa sends a special thank you to The Bishop’s School community for their continued
support of the children at the Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage. This year, sixty children received gifts of
love, reflecting the time and care spent by the members of Bishop’s Community Service Initiative (CSI).
Gift requests included soccer balls, UNO cards, baby dolls, Hot Wheels, and even a pillow. Following in the
tradition of years past, all of the children signed the “Casa Kids Thank you Card,” which was presented to
Ms. Joan Heylman, Bishop’s Community Service Director, during a Chapel service at Bishop’s.
Gracias Bishop’s! Your steadfast support is very much appreciated!
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Dr. Melanie Parker Continues Her Support of Casa’s Kids
By David Cohn
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In honor of her parents, Dr. Parker has generously awarded six new educational scholarships to the Casa de la
Esperanza Orphanage. The orphanage directors selected three university students and three secondary school
students as the recipients of these awards. Over the last two years, Dr. Parker has demonstrated her overwhelming
support for Casa by funding the education of fifteen children. |
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In addition, Dr. Parker recently donated refillable all-in-one toothbrushes to each orphan living at Casa. The children
were all smiles as they received their innovative new gadgets.
The Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage and Spirit of Casa, Inc. would like to extend their heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Parker
for her compassionate giving year after year.
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Operation Adopt an Orphan for the Holidays 2010
By Andrea Shearer
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Early Christmas morning, a group of thirty volunteers gathers in a circle together and prays for safe travel
and a joyful Christmas. After loading the caravan to the brim with lovingly wrapped presents, the group embarks on its trip
to Tijuana, Mexico. The destination is the Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage. Once the caravan pulls in, the volunteers are
immediately welcomed by swarms of grateful children. Volunteers can barely get out of the vans before being smothered in
hugs from smiling children.
Christmas at Casa was a success again this year. In Casa’s third annual “Operation: Adopt an Orphan,” all fifty-eight children were
successfully “adopted” for the holidays. Each orphan at Casa selected both a needed and wanted item. In addition, each child also told his or her
“adopted parent” what his or her wish for the world was. Some children prayed for peace in Tijuana, for others to have a brighter Christmas,
but most wished for all to know the love of God.
Santa made a special appearance at Casa and handed out presents to all fifty-eight deserving children. The children patiently waited
for each child to receive his or her present and then they opened their presents together. The children sang and danced to Christmas songs
and even allowed long time volunteers to join them on stage while singing and dancing with them.
Christmas Day was once again filled with love and laughter at Casa. Special thanks to the San Diego District Attorney’s
Office and elves in San Diego and Northern California for their help making this a very special Christmas for the kids at Casa.
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The Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage Celebrates
Spirit of Casa Board Member Terry Senty
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The Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage recently celebrated longstanding Board Member
and current Spirit of Casa, Inc., Treasurer, Terry Senty. In addition to his duties as Treasurer, Terry is also in charge of organizing
the monthly trips to the orphanage, driving Spirit's van, and coordinating the lunch service
on those monthly trips.
Beloved by the staff and children at Casa, Terry has participated in monthly
trips for over twenty years. At the cermony, Spirit's CEO, Claire Summer, eloquently stated, "At
Spirit, Terry wears many hats. We are grateful for his dedication and service to our
organization and to the children at Casa."
Terry was honored with over fifty handcrafted cards made by the Casa
orphans, and a custom designed cake from the staff. Terry was a good sport, and
participated the ritual "cake-dunking" activity to the delight of the children.
Terry, Spirit is deeply appreciative of your tireless efforts and your
commitment to serving others within your community.
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The Second Annual Bishop’s School Casa Toy Chest Toy Drive
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Spirit of Casa applauds the entire Bishop’s community
for their outpouring of love and support for the children at the Casa de la Esperanza
Orphanage. This year fifty-six children received beautifully adorned gifts wrapped in
pink, blue, and white. The children’s eyes were filled with wonderment and anticipation
as sixth and seventh grade students, faculty members, and parents delivered the gifts.
A few of Casa’s youngest orphans tried to sneak a peek, as their excitement was about
to erupt!
Gift favorites included, Ben Ten T-shirts, Bakugan figurines,
baby dolls, board games, and remote control cars, or airplanes. All fifty-six children
signed the traditional handcrafted “Casa Kids Thank you Card,” which will be presented
to Ms. Joan Heylman, Bishop’s Community Service Director, at an upcoming All School
assembly.
Gracias Bishop’s, your generosity has brought everlasting joy to
Tijuana’s disadvantaged children.
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Casa’s Kids Join the Global Community
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Two international projects, the House of Hope Correspondence Project and the
International Children’s Art Exchange Program have immersed Casa’s children into a world-wide
cultural exchange.
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The House of Hope Correspondence Project
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The Casa de la Esperanza House of Hope project recently embarked on an international journey across the Atlantic
to Namibia. Under the direction of Spirit of Casa Board Member, David Cohn III, more than
seventy Casa orphans created extraordinary individualized drawings for the children at the
St. Mary’s Anglican Mission in Odibo, Namibia.
David delivered the beautiful pictures to the eagerly awaiting Namibian
school children, many of whom are orphans themselves. David remarked, “The children at the
St. Mary’s Mission loved receiving these heartfelt gifts from across the globe. Their curiosity
was immediately sparked, as they wanted to know everything about their new global friends.”
In return, the Namibian children joyfully made their own hand-crafted works of art for the Casa orphans. At each point in this international
expedition, David gave the children in Mexico and Namibia a geography lesson utilizing a world map. Like their counterparts in Namibia, the
Casa orphans especially enjoyed examining the world map and plotting out the vast distance between Tijuana, Mexico and Odibo, Namibia.
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The International Children’s Art Exchange Program
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Spirit of Casa volunteer, Cherry Lee, founder of the International Children’s Art Exchange Program
(ICAE), lead a creative art workshop at the Casa de la Esperanza orphanage which provided guidance
and instruction on the basic principles of creative art.
Each child at the orphanage then created their own masterpiece, as participants in the ICAE world art exchange program.
In the spring, the Casa orphans will each receive an original piece of art from another child in a different part of the world.
The ICAE program has been in existence for approximately twenty years and has received artwork from thousands of children in more than
nineteen countries. For more information concerning the International Children’s Art Exchange Program, contact
Ms. Cherry Lee at the following e-mail address, clee27@san.rr.com.
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Casa de la Esperanza Educational Sponsorship Program
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Spirit of Casa, Inc. would like to extend their sincerest appreciation to
Dr. Melanie Parker for her steadfast commitment to help educate Tijuana’s disadvantaged children.
This year, Dr. Parker will generously fund educational sponsorships for six Casa orphans. Please join
Dr. Parker and change the life of a Casa child by becoming an educational sponsor. To give a gift of
education, please contact us at www.spiritofcasa.org.
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Operation Adopt an Orphan for the Holidays 2009
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Spirit of Casa, Inc. and the Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage would like to thank the angels among us,
Andrea Shearer, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office, the students at the Thomas
Jefferson School of Law, and the La Jolla Presbyterian Church for their outpouring of love and support this
holiday season. This year, the children at the orphanage received extraordinary gifts such as: bicycles,
shoes, romote control cars, CD players, baby dolls, and clothes. The Mission Committee at the La Jolla
Presbyterian Church generously donated much needed funds to repair Casa's one and only school bus. To view this
year's slide show of Christmas smiles with Santa Claus, click here.
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Casa: 2008-2009 In Retrospect
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The Casa de la Esperanza Orphanage Pays Tribute to Lew Merrim
for Twenty Years of Dedicated Service
By Ronn Garton and David Cohn
Photographs by Michael Walker
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| Lew Merrim is one of Casa's longest and
most effective supporters. For over twenty years, he has only
missed a few of the monthly trips to the orphanage.
Lew is a decorated war veteran and an award
winning photojournalist. During his career, he has worked for
TIME, LIFE, Collier's, and Presbyterian Life magazines. He even
served President and Mrs. Roosevelt. Later this year, some of
Lew's photos from the 1940's will be displayed in a special
exhibit at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Many of Lew's favorite photos adorn this web
site, including the photo tribute to his beloved wife and
daughter, Louise Merrim and Andrea Goff, on the Spirit of
Casa Alumni Page. Lew has shared many of these photographs
with the Casa alumni; for some, these are the only childhood
pictures they possess.
Lew's financial support of the Casa de la
Esperanza orphanage also spans more than two decades. His
fundraising efforts on behalf of the orphanage are
unparalleled. Lew Merrim is one of a kind!
Thank you Lew for your dedication to
the Casa de la Esperanza orphanage!
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Casa de la Esperanza Educational Sponsorship Program
By David Cohn
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the children at the Casa de la Esperanza, Board member David
Cohn established the Casa de la Esperanza Educational
Sponsorship Program. Thanks to the charitableness of Dr. Melanie
Parker, three Casa children have received full scholarships
for the upcoming school year. Dr. Parker's generosity is
especially noteworthy, since the children's mother is
receiving cancer therapy. When their mother learned that her
children would receive educational scholarships, she became
emotional, teary-eyed, and expressed her heart-felt gratitude
to Dr. Parker. The children demonstrated their appreciation by
crafting thank-you notes for Dr. Parker. Dr. Parker, You're the Best!
You can become an educational sponsor for as
little as $100. If you would like to sponsor a Casa orphan,
please contact Spirit of Casa, Inc. at mail@spiritofcasa.org.
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Community Service at its Best: Spirit of Casa Salutes The Bishop's School for
Supporting Casa's Kids
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House of Hope Correspondence Project
Senora Sutherland, Senora Torres-Worstell,
and the students from the Spanish III Honors and AP Spanish
Language classes composed more than seventy-five personalized
letters that were recently delivered to the orphanage. In turn, the
orphans eagerly sent return letters and drawings to their
special Bishop's pen pals.
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Bishop's Casa Toy Chest Project
In honor of Bishop's faculty member Mr. James
Updegraff's leap year birthday, Ms. Heylman, Spirit of Casa
Board Member David Cohn, and the Community Serivce Incorporated
Club (CSI), worked hand-in-hand in organizing and
coordinating the Bishop's Casa Toy Chest Community Service Project.
Bishop's advisories, faculty, and staff generously provided toys
and clothing for over sixty-three children at the Casa de la
Esperanza orphanage. With the assistance of Spirit of Casa,
Inc., David Cohn distributed the gifts to anxiously
awaiting Casa orphans. In return, the orphans signed a
giant Casa thank you card for the entire Bishop's
community. Muchas gracias, Bishop's!
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Operation: Adopt an Orphan for the Holidays
By Andrea Shearer
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Even though 2008 was a tough year in the
financial world, San Diegans pulled together once again to
help those less fortunate. In Operation: Adopt an Orphan for
the Holidays, each child at Casa de la Esperanza was
successfully adopted by students from the Thomas Jefferson
School of Law, staff and attorneys from the San Diego County
District Attorney's Office, and a variety of other San Diego
locals. Each adopted child prepared a wish list of things
he or she wanted and needed. Each adopted parent then
purchased and wrapped the items on their child's wish
list, giving their adopted child a Christmas.
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Many of the children prayed for peace and an
end to the violence in Tijuana, while others prayed for
happiness for their family members and a better future.
Adopted parents were often touched by the children and went
above and beyond the children's wish lists to help provide
them with a Christmas. Thank you San Diego for giving a
Christmas to a beautiful group of children. To read more,
click here.
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2008 Spirit of Casa Gala: Benefiting
Casa's Kids
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Our first ever Spirit of Casa Gala was held on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at Mr. Taco in La
Jolla. The event included Mexican Cuisine, live music, featured vocalist, Mary Heineman, photos by Lew Merrim,
door prizes, crafts hand-made by the Casa Kids, a silent auction of goods and services donated by the community, and
of course......a piñata.
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Event efforts were under the direction of CEO Claire Summer. The fundraiser was a
success. Proceeds will go toward building a transition facility on campus for the teen-age boys. Thanks to all who
donated, participated and attended.
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History in the Making: Casa de la Esperanza
Celebrates Three University Graduates
Spirit of Casa proudly congratulates Jesús Irais Patiño Díaz
and Simon Patiño Díaz who both recently graduated from Universidad Tecnológica
de Tijuana with degrees in Electro-Mechanical Engineering. Spirit of Casa
also applauds Sarai Rebecca Lara Rivera who graduated and titled in the field
of Architecture from C.U.T. University.
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Students
Helping Students: The Casa de la Esperanza (House of Hope)
Correspondence Project is a Huge Success
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Spirit of Casa volunteers have assisted the
children at Casa de la Esperanza with the
preparation of more than 130 pen pal letters for
three San Diego County schools: Earl Warren
Middle School, The Rhoades School and The Bishop's
School. This project was coordinated and
implemented by David Cohn III, a newly appointed
Spirit of Casa board member.
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schools have sent return letters or handmade journals to the
Casa children. "The students were very excited about the
project and enjoyed corresponding with fellow students from
another country," remarked David Cohn. To learn more, click
here.
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Dr.
Melanie Parker Gives Her Heart to Casa's Kids
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Dr. Melanie Parker has maintained a longstanding tradition of
helping the less fortunate in San Diego County and Mexico. Dr. Parker and her
dedicated staff have generously donated seventy-five dental hygiene kits to the
children at Casa de la Esperanza. Each kit was filled with love and all of the
necessary items to keep Casa's kids smiling brightly into the future.
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| Dr. Parker, a
founding member of the "Flying Doctors" San Francisco
chapter, has historically participated in cross-border trips to rural
Mexico, providing free dental care to Mexico's poor. Locally, she
volunteers her time to the UCSD dental outreach program to provide
care to homeless and low income families in San Diego.
To learn more about Dr. Parker, visit
www.drparkerortho.com
To read more, click here.
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Upcoming Events
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Back to School at Casa de la Esperanza
August 27, 2011
Christmas at Casa
December 25, 2011
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Casa Needs
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| School in
Mexico is not free as it is in our country. Kindergarten through
University has a price tag. Casa boasts 12 University students, with 6
graduates!
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| But it all starts with Kinder.....and even that
starts with YOU! Please find it in your heart to help underwrite education costs.
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| If you wish to sponsor a child, please press
DONATE and
mail your check to Spirit of Casa, Inc. at the address on the donation form.
Thank you for your generosity!
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Monthly Trips
Our group makes monthly trips to Casa on the fourth
Saturday of each month. Our most special trip of the year is Christmas
morning. Please join us sometime!
*Passports are required - June 1, 2009*
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