| | |  Vallarta Living | November 2009 
A New Meaning for 'Round Up'
 Polly G. Vicars - PVNN
November 12, 2009
| | The popular family owned supermarket Gutierrez Rizo on Constitucion will be rounding up for Becas beginning December 1, 2009 | 
| | Diego Quintero, Jefe de Recursos Humanos at Rizos | 
| | Tina Rizo, the Manager and the only person I know who can talk on the phone, write a check and handle a client in front of her all at one time | |
The words "Round Up" bring visions of cowboys racing on horseback to keep the cattle moving in the right direction. But a new vision now appears in our minds when we hear those words - it is of centavos piling up to fund the education of hundreds of Becas Vallarta's bright young Vallartenses.
This kind of "round up" (redondear in Spanish) is a system where a store makes a commitment to a local charity to ask clients to round up their purchases. For instance if their bill is $20.45 pesos, they should ask the store to redondeo and the extra 55 centavos will go to a local charity.
In the months of August, September and October all of the OXXO stores in Vallarta asked their patrons, when paying for their items, if they could "Keep the Change!" with the "round up" centavos credited to Becas Vallarta, A.C.
At the end of those three months, OXXO proudly notified Becas Vallarta that a check that will pay for a one year scholarship for twenty-three university students or twenty-nine high school students or one hundred junior high students will be awarded to them at the December 5 Posada at Los Mangos Library. Imagine all of that from just a few centavos a customer!
Thank you Cadena Comercializadora Oxxo! You are performing a great service to Puerto Vallarta charities. And thank you to the individual store managers who brought in the most money for Becas. They are: First Place: Armando Silvestre, Oxxo Decameron; Second Place: Rafael Rivera, Oxxo Hamburgo; Third Place: Jose Luis Michel, Oxxo San Carlos; Fourth Place: Aleyda Uriarte, Oxxo La Cruz as well as First Place for Tienda Six: Diana Leticia Robledo Garcia, Six Aeropuerto.
Never content to rest on our laurels we approached Auto Servicios Gutierrez Rizo or as we gringos call it just "Rizos." There we talked with Tina Rizo, the Jefa of that local chain of stores, and asked her if they would "round up for Becas" and she immediately answered "SI" and referred us to her Human Resources Manger, Diego Quintero.
After seeing that our papers would satisfy Hacienda (The Mexican IRS) that closely monitors the rounding up process to be sure the money goes to the charity indicated, he said that they were already rounding up for another local charity, but they would begin for Becas on December 1, 2009.
So beginning December 1, when you shop at Rizos and the cashier tells you that your bill is $23.47 pesos, you should say, "round up please" (redondear por favor) and the extra 53 centavos will be put in an account for Becas Vallarta. Imagine how those centavos will add up in a day, week or month!
This school year we are giving scholarships to 300 students of scare economic resources, but great ability and desire, eighth grade through university. So we need all those centavos to keep our pledge to these students who, as long as they continue to meet our criteria, will merit their scholarships until they have reached their educational goal, even if it is to become a teacher or a medical doctor or an engineer.
If you are new to Vallarta or don't live in the south side, you might not know that much about Gutierrez Rizo. It is one of Vallarta's oldest supermarkets, locally owned and run by the Rizo family, with Tina at the helm. On the first floor they stock a full supermarket selection with a large line of foreign and American foods as well as beer, wine and hard liquors. The second floor is filled with the kinds of things you might find at Kmart or Walmart. The store is large and very centrally located on the South Side near the Rio Cuale at Constitución 136. It is open from 5:30 am until 10:30 pm 7 days a week.
Remember the phrase "redondear por favor" and don't forget to say it every time you are paying for your purchases at Rizos. Those centavos add up to scholarships!
 Polly G. Vicars and her husband of almost 60 years, Hubert (a.k.a. "Husband") retired to Puerto Vallarta in 1988 and soon became active members of several charitable organizations. Polly is the author of "Tales of Retirement in Paradise: Life in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico" [a sell-out!] and "More Tales of Retirement in Puerto Vallarta and Around the World." Proceeds from the sale of her books go to the America-Mexico Foundation, a scholarship foundation that is their passion.
Click HERE for more articles by Polly Vicars, or click HERE to learn more about Becas Vallarta and the America-Mexico Foundation. |
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