The amigos behind "Amigos"

David Orr, The man behind Amigos de San Cristóbal

David Orr from Indiana, lives with his wife Nancy. They have five children 4 girls, 1 boy living in various parts of the world. His son is part of the Doctors without Borders program which is not a far step from the kind of philanthropic work Amigos de San Cristóbal takes part in. David, one of the founders, was President of the Group for many years, now he has the title of Honorary president for life, and still takes part in the overseeing of Amigos. He also is an active fund raiser.

David Orr came for his first visit in the early 80s inspired after seeing an exhibit in a Chicago museum that featured Mexican fine Arts. David and his wife Nancy fell in love with Chiapas doing quite a bit of traveling around the state. They decided that they loved San Cristobal de Las Casas so much that they bought a home where they could stay when visiting Mexico.

David returned to Chicago living there till he retired as Vice President of the AT&T Chicago offices where he worked for 32 years. Retirement provided the opportunity for David and Nancy to move to San Cristóbal where they planned to live a few months out of the year, but soon their plans changes after friends suggested to them on making their home into a Bed and Breakfast. This resulted in San Cristobal becoming their home. Casa Felipe Flores was opened February of 1999 where guest have been active donors to Amigos de San Cristóbal.

David was occupied with getting his Bed and Breakfast running that Amigos de San Cristóbal was not even a thought till an NGO contacted David after hearing about a successful fund raiser he led back in the United States and thought he could help. One thing led to another and talks about forming a group comprised of Mexican locals, and foreigners that would help raise funds to support organizations that need funding to provide beneficial services. The original board was formed which sought out members to form part of Amigos de San Cristóbal in 2004 a group seeking to raise funds and help out organizations that deal with issues like, hunger, education, health as well as many other problems that Mexicans deal with on a day to day basis.

That year Amigos was able to attain sufficient funding to help out 3 different organizations. Present day Amigos has been able to increase funding by an approximate 20% plus from the previous year and now helping six organizations with an approximate $250,000 pesos in funding.

David expresses an enthusiasm over the steady growth of funds and hopes this will continue, allowing to increase support to the existing and new organizations throughout San Cristóbal and in other regions of Chiapas. Also when asked what his hopes were for Amigos in the future, he replied that he has a wish list where he would like to see amigos raise its profile and establishing itself within the community while increasing awareness of the groups operation capacity. Increase local participation by encouraging them to become members of Amigos. His last wish is for Amigos to inspire young people to become active in the group and help with issues that pertain to Amigos mission. He believes that the youth should form a large part of Amigos Foundation to get new perspectives.

I would like to add that from the moment I met David I could see the quality of the man he represents. He is a venerable, noble person, with ideals, dedicated to his family and the community around him. Thanks to David and the Amigos members we are now able to lend a helping hand and give back to our society.
Rodrigo Alfonzo Velasco
Member