Dear Explorer Extended Family,

We'd like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and share some exciting news to start the holiday off on the right foot. Christmas is a time for giving and helping to make the world a better place. Explorer is proud to contribute to spreading joy and peace where ever we go. In the past, Explorer Software provided its employees with a Christmas gift. However, in recent years, we started contributing a portion of our gifts to charities around the world.

For 2007, Explorer wanted to help children - children who needed supplies or clothing to attend school.

Getting Started:
There was a mood of excitement at the thought of all the things we could do for the children and their families in Rosarito, Mexico. Cesar Vasquez and his family have been sponsoring a Christmas event in Rosarito for five years. Santa Cesar joined Explorer in September 2007when Explorer purchased Shafers Service Systems in San Diego, California. We decided that this would be a wonderful charitable event that we could assist Cesar with.

To prepare for the Rosarito Toy Run there was shopping to do! A group of Santa’s helpers met at Wal-Mart in San Diego. We had twelve shoppers, each with baskets and a list of things to find and buy. Off we went, we ended up with about twenty shopping baskets of clothes, toys, blankets, school supplies, food and twenty-seven shiny new bicycles and tricycles. We all watched at the total amount as the cashier checked us through. At the end of the shopping trip we were excited to discover that there was more money to be spent.

Cesar, his family, Rosita Curiel and all of the volunteers spent countless hours in addition to the day of the event making sure that all of the 450 children and their families would have a magical day.

On the day of the toy run, we met at Cesar's house at 7:30 a.m. to caravan down to Rosarito, Mexico. There were 4 cars full of people, cakes, toys, and other odds and ends (Cesar had already made several trips with truckloads of toys and supplies throughout the month).

There was excitement in the air for all of us as we were doing something for a lot of children to make their Christmas as joyful as possible and certainly one to remember.

Once we pulled into Rosarito and drove to a very poor area of town, we were struck by the ramshackle buildings and the dismal appearance of everything around us. We arrived 3 1/2 hours before the festival was to begin so that we could help set everything up and get ready for the children. Upon our arrival (even though it was so early) we were greeted by children waiting at the gates to open and their fairy tale was about to begin.

Some of the children were with a parent whereas others were in charge of their younger brothers and sisters...all welcomed us with open arms!

As we opened the gates to get in and get back to work, the little faces would peak around the corner to see what was going on. Anticipation and excitement was escalating each time the gate would open for someone to arrive with supplies. Only 3 hours to wait and Santa (Cesar) would be there!

Once inside, we all quickly got to work. One group started putting tricycles and scooters together while others put up decorations and helped get the tables and chairs set up in the area where the food was to be served. There were a lot of people there as well getting different areas set up. There were 5 areas giving each child something to do. Santa had his own area so that each family would get a picture and a bag of candy, plus a new toy! One booth was dedicated to the children making crafts and 3 other booths involved games to win a toy. We even had an area for the children to get a new pair of shoes and some clothes. The last place for them was an area to eat hot dogs, nachos, cake and more.

Twelve years ago, a mother and her 3 daughters (all teachers) started this amazing event. The mother and 2 of her daughters all teach school in Rosarito, Mexico and could see the need of many children in their community. Some of the children would come to school for a while, then not show up for any longer.

These teachers would go to the children's homes to find out what was happening with them. They would find a family living in a shack made of plywood walls and no money to purchase even basic school supplies as the average family wage was $10 per week. They would tutor the children in their homes and find out how many brothers and sisters they had. The first year, they started a Carnival-style Christmas Fiesta where 50 children and their families were invited. As more people have got involved and more donations have come in, the number of poor children has risen to 425 this year. Some of these children will come to the fiesta with only socks on their feet and walk away with a new pair of shoes with which they have left their footprints on the hearts of those involved with the event. For some of these children, this will be the first new toy they have ever received.

The third sister from the family that started this event is a teacher at a high school in the United States. This teacher makes a field trip for some of her students to donate their time to help make this event a success. Right now, there are about 40-50 volunteers including the high school students.

Cesar and his family became involved in the toy run about 4 years ago. His children go with him to help out and spend some of their own allowance to purchase toys for the children of Rosarito. It has changed the lives of Cesar, his wife, and children forever. They have learned to really appreciate what they have and found out that they really don't need as much "stuff" as they thought in the past. Helping these children is on their minds, not just at Christmas time, but all year long!

The first year that Cesar and his family volunteered, his wife said that she would never go back because seeing the extreme need of these families was just too heart breaking. Then they realized that not going back was not the answer and started getting more people involved and the ability to help these families even more grew. They have continued to be involved and ask everyone they know to help as well.

At this event, the children receive:

• A new toy and picture with Santa (Cesar)
• They will play 5 carnival games receiving a toy at each booth
• Raffle entry to win a bicycle or large toy
• Free lunch for the whole family (hot dogs, cake, soda, and chips)
• Each family will receive clothing & a bag of groceries

Things needed:

• New toys
• Used toys or stuffed animals
• Bicycles, scooters, and tricycles
• School supplies (notebooks, pens, crayons, etc.)
• Baby and Children's clothes/shoes
• Baby items (strollers, playpens, etc.)
• Canned foods and baby formula

The ages of the children that are invited to the fun are birth to 14 years of age. Seeing the smiles and joy on the children's faces is what this day is all about.

"I had the privilege this year to participate in a wonderful event in Rosarito, Mexico.  I was invited by Cesar Vasquez, a new Explorer team member, and his family to accompany them to Mexico to attend a Christmas Festival which they have donated their time and resources to for many years.I would like to thank Cesar and his family for sharing that experience with my family and myself.  They gave us the opportunity to experience what wonderful things human kindness can accomplish. This will be a Christmas that we will remember forever. Thank you."
Shelley Hoffman

"I was asked to write a little something about my experience with the Rosarito Toy drive on Dec. 1st 2007. Well here it is.
I was asked to be Santa Claus once again this year, I’m not sure if it’s because of my growing waist or all of the gray hair I’m getting as I get older.  Heck, it could be a combination of both; not sure. This year was a very special year for myself and my family because for the first time we were able to do all of the things we had dreamed about doing with this toy drive; thanks to Explorer Software. I have always had many great experiences donating my family’s time and my time to this great cause but this year was even more special because we had the money to get everything and then some that we needed for the Christmas party.  This year was very special because we were able to get 18 bikes for girls and boys, 9 tricycles and 6 scooters for the babies.  I lost count of how many soccer balls, basket balls, footballs and soft balls there were for the little ones. I could not tell you how many Barbie dolls we got, how many backpacks or hot wheels but I can tell you this, there was not one child in the 435 children that did not get a minimum of three toys this year. There were also over 500 hot dogs cooked and there were over 10 cakes from Costco served. This year was very special to my family because for the first time we had help from our extended family, Explorer Software employees. Just to name some; Susan and her boyfriend David cooked most of the hot dogs. There was Shawn from sales, Valerie from Support and Wes from programming.  They were Rovers. They covered and helped everywhere they were needed.  I also got a lot of help from my wife and kids. They manned the Santa station as I worked as Santa. We had some very special friends that came in from Canada; Shelley, her sister Kate and their friend Juliana. They also helped in the Santa station and everywhere they were needed. The look on the children’s faces when they would come up to Santa and see all of the toys was like the master card commercial, “priceless”. I have been doing this for the last 5 years and every year it feels better than the year before. Especially this year, thanks to everyone that helped and the money that was donated on behalf of all the Explorer staff.
Cesar Vazquez

"I was happy to participate in the Rosarito charity this year.  I was only able to go to the shopping spree at Wal-Mart, which was very inspiring in the attempt to find a variety of toys and other Christmas gifts for the children.  I hope this will continue in the years to come.  It was a great success!"
Alice

"I am very excited that we were able to buy bicycles and tricycles for the children (what child does not want a bike for Christmas)! It was so much fun zooming around the store filling our carts without worrying how much money we had to spend.
We were able to get school supplies, clothes, blankets, toys and food. I was not able to make the trip to Rosarito due to previous engagement (wish I could have seen their faces).  I know the children really appreciated all we did for them."
Tracy Garvin

"For several years now my colleague and friend Cesar Vazquez has been sponsoring a toy run to a orphanage/school in Mexico. I have avoided going with him for my own selfish reasons, time, money, not being one who does charity type work. However, once we all jumped into our cars and drove down through some of the less attractive areas of Mexico I noticed something I didn’t expect. I saw people on the streets others simply sitting on a street corner or a rock. All things I’ve seen before but never noticed.  They seemed genuinely happy. When I arrived at the school/orphanage I saw an example of how my life is not the same as the lives of these children. Sure, they don’t have much in terms of money or material things, but they have each other. They have family and friendships that will last a lifetime. So after spending just one day with what seemed like and endless stream of happy little kids and parents from the neighborhood it finally hit me that these kids, their parents as well as the men and women who run the school have a life filled with love and respect for each other. A life filled with dreams that may very well one day come true."
Shawn Skinner

"In addition to the children in the neighborhood being invited to the festival there were also the children of 3 orphanages invited.  The mood became electrified when the bus arrived from the orphanage.  Our volunteers ran around trying to make sure that everything was in order. These children got priority access to Santa and were treated like royalty.  I loved that!!  I also like the fact that there was money left over to buy these children beds and some other things that they needed.  The thought of these children sleeping on the floor breaks my heart.  All of the children that came from the orphanage seemed happy.  They were polite and very well behaved.  I am deeply honored to have played a role in making Christmas a joyful time for them. David and I were both happy that we went to the festival and helped out.  David said that he had a blast being the hot dog king! (ok he thinks he’s the king but he did hand out a lot of hot dogs).  We both look forward to next year! Merry Christmas to all!"
Susan Bendt   

"It was very nice to have participated in the Rosarito Toy Run this year with Cesar and his family.  It was really nice to have Explorer give so much to those that have little or nothing.  Spending time with everyone made the season feel special.  Seeing the children and their faces light up when they saw Santa and all the good stuff to eat was wonderful.  I helped with setting up things and taking the pictures of the children and families as they sat on Santa’s lap.  We worked really hard but all the time spent was so well worth it and I would love to do it again next year."
Valerie Michalczak

"It was a real pleasure to take part in this year’s “Rosarito Toy Run”! Living here in Southern California, I have to be honest and say it doesn’t really feel a lot like Christmas around here sometimes with no snow! Part of the reason for volunteering was to get a bit of the old “Christmas Season” feeling.  It’s always easy to recognize a good cause when you see it, and I had helped out in previous years with a small donation, but had never taken the time to help out in person.  When I heard that Explorer was going to provide a contribution to the cause, I knew Cesar could gladly use an extra hand and set aside the time. To me the highlights of the trip were to see the children, who you could tell felt special to be there.  You could tell some of them came in their best clothes, and there were others who you could tell probably didn’t own any “nice” clothes. Everyone was happy to be there, appreciative, and it was a pleasure to help out in a small way in making it happen for them. It was really great to see the joy Rosita Curiel, who runs the school/orphanage, and is dedicated to helping these children, got from being able to do so much for them this year.  I borrowed Cesar’s camera and used up all the battery life taking pictures, which was fun and hopefully you will enjoy them. Overall, I got that Christmas cheer feeling and a bunch of children were made to feel very happy.  Not a bad day’s accounting! Merry Christmas!"
Wes Jones