This past week on July 27th and July 30th, Puente along with the San Mateo Health Department, San Mateo County Sheriff and Safe Kids/Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, sponsored a free car seat event for residents of Pescadero, La Honda, Loma Mar and San Gregorio.

According to Safe Kids, child restraint and seat belts, when installed and used properly, can prevent injuries and save lives. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death to children 3-14 in the United States. During 2009, there were a total of 33,803 fatalities. Children under the age of 14 accounted for 1314 deaths. (4%) involved alcohol impaired driving.

In an effort to decrease these numbers and bring awareness to the parents, Puente took leadership and contacted the Health Department to arrange a workshop for parents. On Wednesday July 27, 32 parents attended the mandatory workshop. Those who attended the Wednesday workshop would receive free car seats. On Saturday July 30th, a total of 43 car seats were distributed to 28 families. The seats distributed were infant seats, forward facing seats and booster seats.

Puente hopes to continue this project in the future on a regular basis with smaller groups. Special thanks to: Patrice Christensen from the San Mateo Health Department, Armando Landaverde, Jose Luis Curincita and the team from the San Mateo County Sheriff Department, Ben Arias and the team from Safe Kids/ Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Three months ago on April 20, 2011, Consuls (representatives) from the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco gave a presentation at Puente about their services. One of the topics covered was the double citizenship. The families who attend this presentation understood the benefits of having their children become double citizens. That same day, Lorena Vargas, Puente’s Safety Net Services Coordinator, suggested to the present families to work together to make a trip to the Mexican Consulate, given that it would be much easier to use each other as witnesses. It did not take long for one of the parents, Maricela Lopez, to take leadership and closely worked with Lorena to arrange this trip.  On July 15, the first trip was made with 10 families to deliver the required documentation and submit the application. This past Wednesday July 27, 2011 a total of 9 families made the final trip the San Francisco Mexican Consulate to finalize the process. As a result 17 U.S born children/youth obtained their dual citizenships and are now granted the rights of both countries. The parents of these children went beyond transferring their cultures and values, but also gave their children their Mexican citizenship. Lorena will make one last trip to pick up the naturalized birth certificates on behalf of the families. Congratulations to the 17 children/youth who now proudly possess their dual citizenship!

Special thanks to the San Francisco Mexican Consulate team: Alejandro Mendoza, Jorge Magos & Josefina Vazquez. Also thanks to Maricela Lopez for her effort and dedication, and SamCoast for making this trip possible.