Our mission is two-fold and direct: to support needy children in the areas of nutrition and education. Food, being the best medicine, gives kids their best shot at developing fully and well into young adults, and education is the foundation of a productive life in today's world. How we accomplish this twin mission takes us into many other areas of a child's life, but the mission remains at core. Children of the Americas, made up mostly of volunteers, feeds breakfast to over 500 children 6 days a week in Tijuana, Mexico through 5 nutrition programs. We are actively involved in construction projects as needed to further our nutrition and education programs, having built multiple dining rooms, school houses, and more recently a computer lab at a local elementary school. We provide cooking equipment, commercial stoves and counter tops, plumbing, utensils, and food as needed to maintain all programs. School supplies in the form of Rainbow Backpacks (containing enough school supplies for one child for one year) are also given to up to 700 children every year. We also provide computers and other educational equipment as needed to kids who move on to more advanced education. A scholarship program also helps worthy students in Tijuana and in San Antonio Aguas Caliente, Guatemala. And at Christmas, over 1,000 children receive between 2 and 3 tons of toys and other special treats. Last year, Children of The Americas operated on a budget of $717,000, most of which came in the form of in-kind gifts; cash income was $130,000. Our work is accomplished with minimal overhead and staff, and most importantly, fundraising and administrative expenses in 2004 were only 3.7% of the total budget--among the lowest in the United States. You are invited to join us in our fourth decade as we work to expand our outreach. A major push for us in the coming year is to include U.S. children especially in the corridor along the US-Mexico border, but also wherever we find children on the borders/margins of life. Our strategy is not necessarily to reinvent wheels, but to identify good, existing organizations who are already helping children and help them get the resources they need to do a better job. You can help us continue to create hope, one child at a time.