It could be said that for some students of Damien High School in La Verne, Tijuana is like a second home --- and not for pleasure, either.

Twice a month, nine students from Damian's Tijuana Mission Club at Damien High School in La Verne, accompanied by their principal, Sacred Hearts Father Patrick Travers, make one-day work trips to bring supplies and help residents of the impoverished Mexican community.

Additionally, the school (and some neighboring parishes) participate in "food runs" several times a year, providing rice, beans, flour, bread and toilet paper to families. Each summer a group of 150 volunteers consisting of dads and sons go to Tijuana on a one-week construction trip. (Last summer, school volunteers completed five houses, a church, a community center and a set of classrooms.)

"While much work is to be done to correct problems in Tijuana, the club through Damien is committed to working on some of these problems," said Father Travers. "Whether it would be manual labor, food or lumber, the Tijuana Mission Club is constantly working to make improve the community."

On Jan. 15, the club sponsored its largest food run of the year, with more than 200 families each receiving a box of food and supplies. Each family received one ham, one bag of beans, one bag of rice, three loaves of bread and a bag of flour. They also received a bag of toiletries, a bag of five blankets for the family, a first aid kit, and presents for the children.

Transporting these materials is a challenge, Father Travers noted. The hams, for example, must be refrigerated as long as possible before loading them up. "This year, transportation of supplies was the most difficult it has ever been because of unforeseen conditions," he said, "but in the end, everything seemed to work out."

Many hours of planning, and extra time spent in Mexico, were necessary. For the first time, the club sent the supplies taken to a warehouse, from where they would then be sent to the mission for distribution. "More complex," said Father Travers, "but essential."

Joining Damien in the January caravan of schools traveling to Tijuana were students from St. Lucy's Priory (Glendora) and Pomona Catholic (Pomona) high schools, and St. Christopher (West Covina) and St. Louise de Marillac (Covina) elementary schools. And as difficult as the planning was, said Father Travers, "once this caravan arrived to the mission in Mexico, things seemed to go very smoothly."

After unloading supplies, three Spanish-speaking students from Damien (Luis Garcia, Andres Gannon and John Garcia) determined the amount of children each family had and a person from the caravan accompanied each recipient family collecting what was needed. At the end of the day, the large group of workers gathered in the local church and celebrated Mass.

"This trip was a lot different from past years, but the trip ended up being successful just like past years," said Damien junior Phil Ebiner. "At the end of the day, I felt great about helping the people of Tijuana."

"The Epiphany trip does not singlehandedly eliminate the poverty in Mexico," said Father Travers, "but it most certainly helps and gets the impoverished country on the right track."