Good hearted patience, unwavering determination, focused persistence, equally good hearted friends (and at least one well- connected relative), this is a formula for achieving the grandest of dreams. And after eight arduous years of pioneering pathways and never, ever giving up, this small group of powerfully unrelenting ladies recently cut the ribbon to the threshold of their most cherished dream: the first building of the San Peregrino Cancer Hospice Center for Providing Spiritual Assistance to Persons with Cancer.

It was a meaningful, emotional dedication ceremony attended by a large crowd of genuinely interested residents spanning the business and social strata of the city, conspicuously absent of political pomp, giving thanks and several well-deserved plaques of gratitude to those who helped the ladies get to this point by acquiring the land in the strategic location behind the new general hospital and next to the new Hemodialysis Center, arranging the design and construction, even making legislative proclamations to assure continuation of the development to completion. As the two or three politicians who had helped pave the way for this worthy effort gave very concise comments as to the value the facility will have to the community, it was obvious that they worked on bringing this project together as much from their hearts as the ladies themselves.

You may have heard about, or even been one of the thousands who have participated in one or more of the October fundraising “Cancer Walks” hosted by this group of ladies who refer to themselves simply as “The San Peregrino Group”. Each year since 2006 the group has held a Cancer Walk. This successful fundraiser and cancer awareness raiser will continue to perpetuity. The date for this year’s Cancer Walk is set for Saturday, October 25. It will begin at the Centro de Salud(look for a route map in next month’s Potpourri Page)and end at the Plaza del Colosio in the Malecón where hundreds of luminarias (candle-lit paper bags weighted with sand) will be glowing in memory of the friends and families of Walk participants who have succumbed to this fatal disease.

The annual Cancer Walk is an opportunity for you to 1.) Remember a loved one who is suffering from or has succumbed to cancer; 2.) Share a prayer mass for them at the San Francisco Church at 9:00 AM; 3.) Memorialize them with a luminaria in their name; 4.) Help the San Peregrino Group by purchasing a Cancer Walk 2014 T Shirt for just $10.00 dollars; and 5.) Get some good exercise and meet a few new friends during the Walk. Please call group President, Lucia Lopez Montijo at 638-105-6931 from Rocky Point, or visit their Facebook page: San Peregrino Puerto Peñasco.

This first building on the 700 sq meter lot represents the beginning of a beautiful dream held to steadfastly for eight years with the best of dreams by the ladies of San Peregrino yet to come as they continue toward the completion of a comfortable hospice by sharing their hopes with business and community leaders, visitors to our little slice of paradise by the sea, and all kindhearted people with compassion for maintaining the dignity of those suffering the pain and agony of the final stages of cancer.

You can help by the simple act of joining the 9th annual San Peregrino Cancer Walk on October 25th, with your new Cancer Walk 2014 T-shirt, of course!

This article is brought to you by the Sonoran Resorts Sales Group, www.sonoranresorts.mx, Jim Ringquist, Director of Sales and Marketing.