Bucerías, Mexico - Some people vacation to relax and forget the pressures of everyday life, others to experience new places and cultures. After getting their share of fun in the sun done early, one Lacombe family spends their "downtime" improving the quality of life for those less fortunate.

Geri and Walter Vink began vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to escape the Alberta winters, but after a few trips of sitting on a beach they decided to help out in their home away from home. "One year we went on our trip to Mexico and my wife Geri said we should do something and that we couldn’t just lay on the beach all day," said Walter Vink. "Within a week, there was a pamphlet in our campground about an orphanage that needed help. So my wife and I and two other couples went to investigate."

It didn’t take the Vinks and their friends long to help the six children at Casa Hogar in Bucerías. "One day we went there and the kids were just playing in the dirt," said Vink.

"We went to town and bought some 2x10s and got some beach sand and made a sandbox. The next day we went back and there they were. From that day on we never looked back." The Vinks then began fundraising for the orphanage that now helps 30 children. Each year in Mexico, they hold a barbecue and karoke fundraising event that has become a genuine happening.

"We have fund raised for them for the last seven years," said Vink. "We started off very small and ended up quite sufficient. The first Tuesday in February every year we usually have our fundraising event down there. It’s all tourists we sell tickets to and last year we raised $9,800 in one night. It didn’t start out that big. It started out that we sold 50 tickets and this last February we sold 420."

While the Vinks stress that they don’t do it alone and that it takes a large group to make the event go, they admit that they reason for their dedication is simple.

"Every child deserves a safe home," said Walter Vink. "We have been blessed to be able to do something like this. Years ago we went to Mexico for the weather and to relax. The last few years it has been the children that have brought us back."