Again this year, the OEF is holding our 5K Walk in Penasquitos Canyon! It is such a fun time, and we pray for good weather that day. It’s a great day for fellowship and catching up with friends old and new on the beautiful canyon walk, and for such a worthy cause!

With the donations we receive from the Walk each year, we rely on collecting enough to buy the school supplies for 1500 students in the 5 villages we serve in the Sierra Mixteca, then we distribute them with our teams in August, along with the books graciously donated by Ediciones Montenegro of Guadalajara.

If you are unable to join us in person for the Walk, you can always donate online or by cheque, and we will make these children’s lives brighter and lift them up to face their futures, knowing there are people in California who care about them and support their success and development.

The details of the Walk are attached below, as is the sponsor sheet.

 

When: 8:30 a.m. registration, 9:00 start.
Where: Canyonside Park, 12350 Black Mt. Rd. SD, 92129, behind ball field #4.
Suggested donation: $20.00. Children under 14 walk free.

 

If you are unable to join us, you can always donate securely online here at at https://oaxacaeducationfund.org/donate

You can also send us a check payable to Friends of the Poor; mail it to  14356 Marianopolis Way, San Diego, CA 92129

 

 

 

 

Flyer Walk OEF 2026

OEF Walk 2026 Sponsor Sheet

YOUR GIFTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ALSO HELP SUPPORT 50 ORPHANS IN THE VILLAGES WITH MONTHLY FOOD STIPENDS, AND OUR 17 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH THEIR ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS! The children, young people, families and all the OEF volunteers thank you for your support! So far 29 young people from 3 of the villages have graduated from university! We are so proud of them! We never imagined when we first offered partial scholarships in 2017 that so many young people were just waiting for the opportunity to follow their dreams. What obstacles they have overcome!

Children are excited to receive their school supplies and workbooks! Zochiquilazala, Oaxaca.  Photo by Martha Martin

The OEF was founded for the children and young people of the Sierra Mixteca, Oaxaca, Mexico, to give them an opportunity to overcome the impoverishment of their  families and their villages through education. Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Rancho Penasquitos, San Diego ministered spiritually and physically to the migrants working in the fields near the parish beginning in 1985. The OEF was born in 2012 to serve their children and grandchildren in the five villages the team visits every year. The OEF provides school supplies to 1500 children, delivered in person, partial scholarships to 20 university students in 2025/26, and monthly food stipends to 50 orphans. Educated youth will be able to stay in Oaxaca if they can make a living there and contribute to their families and society.  Twenty-seven of our scholarship students have already graduated from university! From 2014 to 2023, we provided high school fees to 130 young people in two villages, which is no longer necessary as the government now helps the families with these costs.

Photo by Martha Martin