Lucha Libre Racing returns to Mexico to race and deliver school supplies

Artist and sculptor, Joe Brubaker and photographer Michael Emery team up to form Lucha Libre Racing. The SF Bay Area duo will venture to Mexico this October to race La Carrera Panamericana. The Carrera is the last great high speed, amateur race run on public roads in the world. It is pedal to the metal for 2000 miles over 6 days, from the bottom of the country to the top, straight through the heart of Colonial Mexico.

The race will start in the sweltering jungles of Tuxla Gutierrez, Chiapas on October 24th. They continue to Oaxaca, Mexico City, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, and Aguascalientes. Day 5 begins at 8300 feet in thebeautiful Silver mining city of Zacatecas. The racing here is fast and treacherous. Many race-ending mistakes happen on “La Bufa” the spectacular bluff where Pancho Villa had his first victory. October 30th the final grueling day brings 325 miles of flat-out-engine-wrecking-straight-a-ways and fast sweeping turns, down through the cacti, to the border in Nuevo Laredo.

100 vintage racecars from Europe and the Americas will take on the 2008 Mexican Road Race. The fastest teams will drive 50+ year-old American Iron at speeds up to 180 mph. The Lucha Libre Racing 1967 Datsun Roadster will humbly do a little over half that speed. In 2006 Lucha Libre Racing was the first team to contest La Carrera in a Datsun, they had the least amount of experience, the least amount of horsepower and finished in dead last. In consolation, they did beat 19 cars that crashed or blew up.

This year, in addition to the challenge of finishing the race, the Lucha team will deliver school supplies to rural Mexican children. They will focus their efforts on outfitting two schools along the raceroute. The first school will be in Chiapas where the race begins and the second in Zacatecas, where Emery lived with his family in 2001.

The team will make two stops in enroute for car shows. October 12th they will be in Irvine, CA for the largest “Old School” Japanese car show in the USA. October 18th they will be in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a charity car show and fundraiser that benefits: Feed the Children, a charity that provides daily hot meals for local children. To help the effort or make a donation please contact the Lucha Libre Team.

High Speed Rescue of Blinded Driver

Have you ever seen a good Samaritan moving at 60mhp?   A brave, and talented driver helped avert potential disaster on Interstate 880 in California.  A very small sidebar story in the Mercury News is worth a read.  It starts with a thank you from the rescued driver.  This is in Q&A format.  The ‘Q’ is Mark Underwood (Driver) and the ‘A’ is Gary Richards from the Mercury News.

Q - I would like to thank the man who leaned out the passenger side of a white full-sized truck Monday morning to pull a large sheet of cardboard off my windshield after it flew up and virtually blocked my entire view of the road.

Mark Underwood
Scotts Valley

A - Wow! He did what?

Q - I was traveling south on Interstate 880 before Highway 17 about 10:30 a.m. in the fast lane when a large piece of cardboard blew up from the ground, getting pinned against my window. I had to lean over into the passenger seat of my Civic to see.  I worked my way out of the fast lane and began moving to the right to get off the road or find an exit.  I slowed to maybe 50 mph and the next thing I know, this white truck races up next to me, just a couple of inches from my car.  Then this mysterious good Samaritan leans way out and pulls the cardboard sheet off my windshield.  To him, I say: Thank you very much and God bless you.

Mark Underwood

A - I’ve written about good deeds on the road numerous times, but this may be the topper. There was more than one hero in what could have been a tragic incident. First, a person in a car behind Mark saw what was happening and turned on his emergency lights, alerting other drivers to a problem ahead. Then, this driver of the white truck pulls up next to Mark at 50 mph and his passenger risks his life torescue Mark. Man, what quick thinking. What a story. Mark would love to meet the pair in the truck, and so would I.

Read the entire Mercury News Roadshow article

Children Helping Children

Rosedell Elementary School, Saugus, California

www.redcrosshomtownheroes.org

Rosedell in a word… Eager

Rosedell is a Hometown Hero because…
The students of Rosedell Elementary School are heroes because they have taken on a year-long service project to promote awareness about measles and raise funds to vaccinate children in Africa and Asia against the disease. Read more

Swimming Superstar

Jeanne Wilson - Valanta is a Hometown Heao freatured on
www.readcrosshometownhearoes.org

Jeanne in a word… Good-natured

Jeanne is a Hometown Hero because…
Jeanne is a hero to me because she is so patient and has literally taught thousands of people how to swim. Who know’s how many lives she’s saved through her actions?
Read more

Story of Grace

As shared by Mary Ann McCoy,
Founder and Executive Director of Children of Grace

I met Grace Talitwala when I arrived in Jinja, Uganda in 2002. She was a lovely, young widow that sincerely welcomed me into her country and into her heart. Read more

Kidney Donor

TACOMA, Washington (CNN) — At a time when she really needed a miracle, Annamarie Ausnes found one in an unusual place.

Sandra Andersen,  donated a kidney to Annamarie Ausnes.

Last fall, Ausnes, 55, was one of nearly 75,000 Americans in need of a kidney. Today, she is recovering from a successful kidney transplant — thanks to her local Starbucks barista. Read more

747 pilot rescues farmers from disaster

ELLENDALE, North Dakota (CNN)  — After surviving a near-fatal accident, Richard Olson recalls the doctor telling him, "You may never walk again."
Bill Gross says he has put in $20,000 and 5,000 hours or more of volunteer time into Farm Rescue. Read more

A smile for all seasons

By Horeb Bulambo Shindano, World Vision DRC, and Janet Root, World Vision U.S.

“I am sufficiently feeding my family,” says one mom in the Congo, a beneficiary of World Vision’s agricultural assistance program.

Because of the agricultural assistance she received through a World Vision program in her community, 48-year-old Sonnie Georgette can feed her family and fight the poverty that was once a reality of her life. Read more

Daring To Dream

A shoe box recipient from Ukraine finds a new role with Operation Christmas Child in the U.S.

When Julia received an Operation Christmas Child shoe box, she knew it was the start of something special happening in her life. The 12-year-old Ukrainian girl longed for a safe haven, far away from the abuse and alcoholism that characterized her home life. Perhaps her dreams weren’t so impossible after all. Read more

One Thousand Tents

One Thousand Tents is an effort to provide shelter to some of the 5  million people left homeless in the aftermath of the May 12th earthquake in China.

To put this tragedy in prespective, five million people is the equivalent to 7 times the population of San Francisco suddenly becoming homeless.

China has used its supply of two million tents and is in urgent need of additional tents. Millions of earthquake survivors are currently living in unsheltered camps.

The cost of one tent is $135. You can help by making an online donation of any amount. We also welcome and appreciate entrepreneurial efforts to support this important relief work. Family and neighborhood projects, co-worker support and corporate donations are powerful ways to come together in a time of need. Thank you!

Donate using your credit card at our secure site where you will make an online contribution (Online Giving) for China Earthquake Relief. To donate you will need to set up an account, if you don\’t already have one. Setting up an account is easy, just your name and e-mail address is needed. Donate here

Corporate Donation Note:
For corporations who wish to contribute to a non-profit charitable organization rather than a religious organization, contributions can be made to :
POP\’s Foundation* (Please designate for 1,000 TENTS.)
3536 Arden Road,
Hayward, CA 94545
Tel: 510-887-1899

*POPF is a 501(c) non-profit charitable organization. (Tax ID: 94-3218648). As all workers are volunteers, 100% of your donation goes to the relief.
For credit card donations via POPS, please call: 1 (510) 887-1899 or 1(800) PEACE2U during regular office hours (PST.) and refer to the 1,000 Tents Campaign

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