Bucerias, Nayarit - Over 300 kids slam dunked plastic cans into recycle bins, played environmental twister, painted murals of nature scenes and danced to live music in an environment-themed fiesta at Plaza La Colonia in Bucerias on Saturday, May 21, 2011.

The community-building event was hosted by charity organizations PEACE, the Bucerias Bilingual Community Center (BBCC) and Recyclers of Bucerias; each of which have a major presence within the Bucerias community.

PEACE, Protection, Education, Animals, Culture and Environment, is a nonprofit organization established in 2005, made of three main programs which focus on education, entrepreneurship, animal well-being, and community engagement.

The BBCC offers intercambio sessions in which native Spanish and English speakers learn from each other linguistically and culturally. The Recyclers of Bucerias are dedicated to cleaning and conserving the local environment by recycling plastic and aluminum. The Rey Nayar Biblioteca, a volunteer-operated library, was also present at the event.

"We all came together and decided to have this event deep inside the community, seven blocks east of the highway," said Nicole Majewski, Community Relations Director at PEACE. "There aren’t many organized community activities on this side of town, and we’d like to see this happen even more in the future."

PEACE presence in Bucerias also continues to grow. The Work for Food program and After School program run continuously and two animal sterilization clinics take place each year, contributing to the $20,000 USD PEACE invests into Bucerias annually.

"We believe that these initiatives are important components in building healthy communities - strong education, healthy animals, economic empowerment opportunities and environmental consciousness." said Molly Fisher, Founder and Director of PEACE Mexico.

Thanks to the combined effort and passion from local charities, and active community members, Bucerias will continue to see these healthy changes.

"It’s events like these that build community pride," said Majewski. "Young and old, locals and expats, men and women; we’re all here to strengthen this beautiful place we call home."

PEACE, (Protection, Education, Animals, Culture, Environment) established in 2005, is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization made up of three main programs which focus on education, animal well-being, and environmental protection in the Bay of Banderas, Nayarit, Mexico. PEACE works hand-in-hand with communities in Mexico to provide holistic education, combined with community action programs that enable people to improve their quality of life as well as their financial stability.

For more information, please visit PeaceMexico.org or click HERE to read more about PEACE