I know the most common image people have of the Mexican Red Cross is the dedicated people standing by the side of the road collecting donations. As a matter of fact, a handful of people teased me before I left asking me if I brought plenty of sunscreen because that's what I was going to be doing.

As luck has it, I arrived here during the two hardest hitting months of collection for the Red Cross: March and April. When I asked, the head of the clinic here said that for this specific clinic in Hermosillo, we need approximately 15 million pesos (1 million dollars) to operate for the year. Donations come in the forms of large checks from local businesses, obviously donations from the people, and lastly when people go to renew their car registration here with the government, they are asked if they want to make a voluntary donation to the Red Cross. 

Additionally, this year the Carlos Slim foundation donated 14.8 million pesos, an ambulance and 663 computers to the national organization in recognition of the indispensable and invaluable work the Red Cross organization does for this country. For anyone curious, Carlos Slim is a Mexican business magnate and investor who is the chairperson of Telmex and is worth $71.2 billion USD. In addition to the monetary donation, Telmex has pledged to match every peso donated by texting a certain number. I believe this outstanding support from businesses and the public shows how vital the Red Cross' work is in Mexico.