One of our favorite local not for profits, Hekab Be Library in Akumal, has published their annual "Back to School" Wishlist and we would like to help by sharing this with our "Life's a Beach" readers. We so often receive inquiries from customers and friends traveling to the Riviera Maya wondering what they can bring for the local school children in the region and how it will reach the intended recipients. The staff and volunteers at Hekab Be Library have been working with local children in this area for over 12 years and we were pleased to include them as a featured charity in our "12 Days/12 Ways" series which debuted last year.

Hekab Be Library 

If you would like to make a contribution or just stop in to say hello, the library is located on the road going into Akumal (the beach side). The library hours during the school year are as follows:

Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri: 9:30 am - 5:30 pm (closed 1-2:30 pm for lunch)
Wed. 12 - 5:30 pm (closed 1-2:30 pm for lunch)
Saturday 9 am -1 pm
Closed Sunday 

 

It's that time of year again! Here are supplies we'd like to have available for the children who use the library:

--Notebooks-- regular lined (college rule and wide rule) and graph paper
--Round point (safety) scissors
--Erasers, kids like the white ones since they don't mess up the page
--Pencil sharpeners (metal ones seems to last longest)
--Liquid white glue, such as Elmer's, large bottles are ok
--Colored pencils in sets of 12 colors per pack
--Geometry sets with compass, triangle, and ruler
--Permanent markers (sharpies)
--Pens (black, red and blue)
--Play doh/non-toxic modeling clay
--Water based paints, large 1 liter bottles are best
--Watercolor sets
--Puzzles with 100 pieces or more
--Printer cartridges: HP 22 tricolor and Kodak color cartridge 10c
--A digital camera


Small toys for prizes to kids who participate in our reading programs:
Please remember: NO broken toys, NO big toys (no room in crowded homes), NO toys or games that require knowledge of English, and NO toys that need batteries (no money to replace them).

Items the kids have expressed interest in:
--silly bands
--bakugan toys
--tops
--transformer toys
--superhero toys
--building blocs like legos, duplos or megablocks
--hot wheels cars
--beads for making necklaces and bracelets
--educational games/toys for small children: block sets, puzzles using colors and shapes of varying types, games that require concentration such as   memory, uno, crazy 8s)
--dolls
--small purses for young teen girls
--pencil cases with a kid theme (cartoon character)
--lunch bags and backpacks with kid theme

Clothing
As always, we welcome donations of gently used clothing, scroll down for a list of suggested items. We sell these clothes at minimal cost to local families to raise funds for library operations. Our most popular item is clothing for kids. Small or medium adult sizes also sell well. Anything XL or larger is simply too big for the locals who come to the bazaars.

Other items we sell well:
--anything for infants or youth sizes, or small adult sizes, LIGHTWEIGHT clothing, such as: shorts, t-shirts, skorts, bathing suits, camis, tank tops, flip-flops, sneakers, baseball caps, sun hats, umbrellas, any trendy clothes - Old Navy, Children's Place, Circo, Gap... Light SHORT skirts - long ones are too long for locals.