Paradise Beach

[DEERINH2O]

Well after showing the kids the website, it is final. We are going to do PB in November! Very excited. It will be a total of 10 of us. 6 are kids 16-11. They are looking forward to the water trampoline and iceberg. I am looking forward to getting there early and getting a massage. I will be celebrating a birthday so I deserve a massage. Do all the taxis in Cozumel on hold four people?

I am so excited, Paradise Tom can't wait to meet you and enjoy our day on your beach.

 

One more thing, can you tell me what kind of supplies, my kids would like to bring items for the children

 

thanks again,

 

Kathy

[TexEm]

Look for CozSally's reply on the thread about 38 crazy Texas women and Paradise Beach Tom--she lists the things they need (Just do a search under her name if you can't find the thread I'm talking about). Needs will probably change by November--just guessing--maybe there are ongoing needs. They used to need pencils and pens but everybody brought those, so I see new items listed. Our family took some backpacks with a small amount of supplies last week. Maybe $$ donation?? I think it's really great that so many cruise critics are taking stuff.

[Cozumel_Tom]

DEERINH2O...looking forward to meeting you all, I guarantee you'll have fun!

Regular taxis will squeeze in another body for a couple of extra bucks, but you guys should just get a taxi van and stay together!

TexEm provided a great answer and let me just save you some time and re-post CozSally's original post on the subject:

 

The Cozumel Chrysalis Groups supports children from less fortunate families by providing school uniforms, shoes and school supplies. For high school students, inscription fees and book fees are also paid. Chrysalis helped 186 students in the 2003-2004 school year that is just ending. The list for next year was just finalized yesterday and includes 276 students. Some of these students will move off the island over the summer, some will not pass the test to get into high school, so we anticipate a final number close to 250.

 

Gently used backpacks are fine, broken zippers and fraying edges are not. We want these kids to look like any other student at their school. Chrysalis collects cash donations and school supplies from island visitors all year long. The current NEED LIST includes glue sticks, scientific calculators, ink erasers and backpacks. Also, some schools are requiring blank computer diskettes. Other items can be purchased here if we still need them. Please no more pencils! We have a billion!

 

Thank you so much in advance for you generous donations!

 

Sally Hurwitch

Cozumel Chrysalis Group

 

There ya go! Thanx to you and TexEm and everybody else who brought donations for the kids, it's really appreciated and needed, esp. after that horrible flood last month when many families lost everything. Thanx for your generosity, you are all very kind!

[DEERINH2O]

Thanks Tom,

 

I shop all summer for school supplies so I will pick up extras and bring them with us.

 

Have a fabulous day and see you in a few months.

 

Kathy

[Cozumel_Tom]

Excellent Thanx for your generosity and hasta la vista!

[tortoni]

Tom, will be there with our extended family the week of August 15th off the Explorer. Do we just hail a cab and ask for Paradise Beach? How do I get to your website? Sounds like a fun place and I've seen some nice webshots of the beach.

[eacruise]

We are planning on coming to PB in Sept. I heard that awful rumor that you are on vacation during Sept. Who do we give the school supplies to if you aren't there????

[Cozumel_Tom]

tortoni...you got it! We're just 10 minutes, 5 miles, away by taxi! The rules of the board prevent me from posting my website, but look around...shouldn't be too hard to find it!

 

eacruise...Yup, taking a month off so I can recoup my superpowers for the upcoming High Season...no problem though, just give the donations to one of the bartenders (Janna, Miguel or Javier) and they'll put it in the office for me. Thanx so much for thinking of the kids, they are very appreciative!! Have a great vacation!

[TexEm]

Figured there must be more info about Chrysalis--found their website, http://www.geocities.com/smallsal/chrysalis. You can also email them at cozkids@hotmail.com or snailmail at The Cozumel Chrysalis Group, P.O. Box 449, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico 77600. They apparently need many things for the school children they sponsor, ranging from school supplies (current list includes colored pencils, scissors, basic and scientific calculators, backpacks, metric geometry sets, precision compasses, rulers, protractors, triangles, and Spanish only dictionaries) to used clothing (all ages)--they apparently have a "garage sale" with the donated items that benefits the kids--to white socks, black shoes and white tennis shoes--to actually sponsoring a child ($50 per year for elementary age, $150 for junior or seniour high school)(sponsorship form is on their webpage). If you just type "Chrysalis Cozumel) into any search engine (I used google), you'll come up with lots of info from all the Cozumel visitor websites. A good one that tells the story of how Chrysalis started is http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/Chrysalis. There are other drop off sites if people don't want to lug everything to Paradise Beach--I can just see Tom and PB with huge bins for donations.

 

What a great effort! Most of us have space in our luggage for a few things (leaves us room for the souvenirs on the way back). Makes me feel like I've given something back to the island I've enjoyed so much.