The Kids Kingdom (El Reino De Los Niños) is an independent orphanage which is home to 35 children in Maneadero, near Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico. The Kids Kingdom was founded in 1989 by Tomas and Maricela Shockey who to this day continue to live at and dedicate their lives to this orphanage. The Kids Kingdom's mission is to meet the physical, emotional, relational, educational, and spiritual needs of the children that come to the orphanage from backgrounds of abandonment, neglect and abuse. The Kids Kingdom's desire is to see the children mature into responsible adults whose impact on society will be positive and lasting.
The kitchen for the orphanage turns out three meals a day, 7 days a week for at least 40 people. The kitchen was built in 1984 and has not been renovated. It is dilapidated and insufficient to meet the daily demands of the orphanage. Numerous materials are deteriorating, creating unsanitary conditions. Several kitchen components are not built to current code which are pose potentially dangerous conditions.
The directors of the orphanage have meet with a general contractor and come up with a list of items that require current attention. These items, in order of priority are as follows:
1) New tile floor (including 2 floor drains and re-plumbing)
2) New stainless steel food serving countertop (70"x 30")
3) New cabinet drawers (32"H) possibly stainless and stainless steel countertop (41"W x 25"D)
4) New Exhaust Fan for range hood and grease collector (to meet code requirements)
5) Install new sink plumbing including sink faucet with spray head.
6) Refurbish existing upper and lower cabinets
7) Install a roll up Overhead Counter Door for the food serving counter top (to meet code requirements)
8) Push bar for double kitchen entrance doors (to meet code requirements)
9) Rebuild kitchen dining room double doors to open out with push bar (to meet code requirements)
10) Electric work including relocating light switches (Code requirements)
11) Pantry floor tile
12) Remodel food pantry storage cabinets
13) Refurbish Kitchen work table cabinet unit
14) Purchase and install new commercial duel tank deep fryer.
The finances of The Kids Kingdom are overseen by Friends of the Kids Kingdom, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible as provided by the Internal Revenue code and applicable regulations. All funds for this project will go through the Friends of Kids Kingdom.
Depending on the situation with Covid-19, Rancho Santa Fe Rotarians hope to travel to Kids Kingdom to help with painting and other small renovation projects that don't require a special skill.
Kids Kingdom understands that they may not be able to obtain all necessary funding to provide for all items on the above list. They will adjust the project to fit within the funding provided. Rancho Santa Fe Rotary is hoping to partner with other clubs in our district to meet the total funding requirements for this kitchen renovation.
The timeline for the project is estimated at 6 months from receipt of funding.
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