Community Support and Involvement

Become involved – places to lend your support, make a difference and help the local community.

Over the past few years Zihuatanejo has made a name for itself with community efforts and fund-raising activities that aided some of the more needy schools and educational facilities in the area.

Both the annual Zihuatanejo SailFest and the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival attract tourists and visitors from out of town who, through attendance and participation in these events, have brought much-needed funds to educational and cultural endeavors in the community, such as the Netzahualcoyotl School for Indigenous Children and the local Casa de la Cultura, which brings cultural classes and activities for free to the community.

Besides education and culture, one of Zihuatanejo’s areas of need still is the local chapter of the SPCA, which has to deal with quantities of mistreated and abandoned animals, both domesticated and wild. Help is always needed for the care, feeding and exercising of the animals as well as the fundraising for sterilization campaigns and vaccinations. Contact information is provided in the various sections covered here, should you have support to give during your stay in Zihuatanejo, so please don’t fail to contact the institution to offer your help.

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Alcoholics Anonymous
AA Meeting information for the Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo and Troncones area

Animal Protection Society: The Zihuatanejo SPCA
The Zihuatanejo Society for the Protection of Animals was founded by Helene Krebs Posse in 1982, without adequate installations and maintained exclusively with the founders resources. It provides protection, medical support and home-finder services for stray and mistreated animals. It is located at Casa Marina along Fisherman’s Walk, next to the basketball court in downtown Zihuatanejo.

Baby Bundle Project
A group of ex-pat women have gotten together to gather needed supplies for young, unwed mothers of restricted means. The group gathers every 2 or 3 months to put together the collected goods and distribute to some 300 young mothers every year. If you’d like to contribute or get more information, call Joan at 553-1618, or email playaobispo(at)yahoo.com or bnfotografia(at)hotmail.com

Netzahualcoyotl School
An important and special community project in Zihuatanejo is the Netzahualcoyotl Primary School, which is receiving local and international support from local businesses and individuals, tourists, the boating community, and now Rotary International.

Ninos Adelante
Ninos Adelante is a non-profit organization founded by a small group of Americans in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo in 1978, with the aim of providing scholarship dollars to motivated, needy children in the community and provide them the opportunity to complete Secundaria (Jr. High) and Preparatoria (High School).

Por Los Ninos
A group of volunteers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged parents in Zihuatanejo provide and education for their children. Los Ninos is a registered non-profit corporation that uses donations to supply uniforms, school books, teaching & learning materials, art supplies and athletic equipment to needy children in non-funded, and under-funded, schools.

Refugio de Potosi

The Potosi Plant and Wildlife Refuge is located on the road to Barra de Potosi from Los Achotes. It is a non-profit organization whose aim is to provide  a habitat for the protection of local animals and plants; promote conservation, ecological and ecological tourism; create opportunities the education and involvement of the local community, and conduct research, rescue and treatment programs. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except Tuesdays. Entrance: $40 pesos for adults; $20 pesos for children.  For more information, call  (755) 100-0743. See: http://www.zihua-ixtapa.com/journal/2010/03/el-refugio-de-potosi/

Rene Ferguson Scholarship Fund
This foundation, set up in memory of  Rene Ferguson, assists promising young women of little financial means in the pursuit of a degree course through tax deductible donations channeled to defray the costs of college tuition and books. For more information, please visit http://www.laquintatroppo.com/

Rotary Clubs
Information on the Rotary Clubs in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, locations, meetings, contacts

SOS Bahia
Movement for the rescue and preservation of Zihuatanejo Bay (Movimiento para elrescate y preservacion de la Bahia de Zihuatanejo) -promoting ecologically-minded action in the Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo area. Info in English and Spanish.

Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival
With the purpose of bringing musical awareness and variety to the Zihuatanejo community, the annual Zihuatanejo Guitarfest, started in 2002, also raises money for the Casa de la Cultura and other cultural and educational causes. The Festival is a week-long Guitar extravaganza held every spring, usually in March or April (dates fluctuate with Easter)