Latest News From Mayapan

This is a direct letter from Mercado Mayapan

Dear Friends,

The new year is upon us, and we are very grateful for the incredible support that all of you and the entire community provided us to get through 2009.

In the final days of 2009, we raised more than $7,000 in donations and short term loans from Friends and Amigos, and more than $40,000 in sales to be able to cover the final payroll of 2009, which was also a rare third payroll for the month of December. This response is a clear demonstration of the potential of the Mercado as a community cultural and economic center for not only low income women and their families, but all of El Paso as well as friends, family and tourists from afar.

With the entrance of 2010, we also are receiving a very generous and critically important grant from the North American Development Bank, which has been an investor in our social purpose businesses for more than 10 years. This support will allow us to not only sustain the Mercado but grow it towards self-sufficiency and long term sustainability.

Unfortunately, along with this wonderful news and advances, we continue to face challenges with the City of El Paso. Although through several meetings in late 2009 we had been told that the city would work with us, on January 5, city council voted to declare us in default on the loan that they provided us in June 2009. Currently we are in negotiations to try to develop a repayment agreement, which will result in payoff of the loan while allowing the Mercado to continue to operate and grow in 2010.

And to those ends, we have lots of exciting plans and events coming up very soon:

• On February 1, Café Mayapan’s restaurant will begin again. With a new menu, Café Mayapan waitress-based lunch service will be available 11am to 3pm, Monday through Friday, in our 2000 Texas Avenue building.

• On February 6, Museo Mayachen will unveil its newest exhibit, the Chicano/a Movement in El Paso in Mercado Mayapan

• Every weekend in February, there will be exciting unique programs in Mercado Mayapan dedicated to the Chicano/a movement. Each Saturday in February, there will a forum featuring key local and national Chicano/a leaders to share about the diverse impacts and milestones that the movement achieved. And each Sunday, a multitude of artists and musicians will perform, including music by Mariachi Flores Mexicanas, Alacranes Mojados, cultural group Ceiba, Radio la Chusma, Danza Azteca, Folklorico Tonatiuh, Words of Wisdom Chicano/a Poetry Slam, and a low rider show. The Mercado’s menu also will feature favorites from long-time barrio residents and families.

And this is just the beginning!!! Mercado Mayapan staff and leadership are also working on a whole new calendar of events and programming for all of 2010, including the Mercado’s first anniversary on May 1, the Mole Festival in July, and of course our annual Day of the Dead program in November.

Our fundamental goal this year is to not only expand the number of people who come to the Mercado, but in particular we want to build REPEAT customers. Our goal is to grow 5% per month.


You can help us reach those goals in several ways:

• Come by the Mercado at least once a week—during the weekdays! Growing numbers of people are attending our programming on the weekends, but we want to build the Mercado also as the community’s shopping site for groceries and gifts, as well as a meal during the week.

• Bring your family and friends to the Mercado regularly—make it your place to hang out on the weekends—the programming is ever changing, but always family friendly!! Set a goal of coming at least twice a month with family and friends, for a meal, an event or shopping on the weekend.

• Select one group you are a part of—your workplace, a club, a professional association—and commit to distributing information about Mercado Mayapan events to them each month. You can enroll in our email list to get regular bulletins on our programming (email centromayapan@mujerobrera.org to subscribe to the list)

• Work with Isabella Rodriguez, our events contract coordinator (mercadomayapan@mujerobrera.org) to schedule a meeting or event at the Mercado or the Café, or have them serve as your group’s caterer!

Again, thank you so much for all of your support in 2009 and throughout the years. We are very very excited about the potential of this year, and we are confident that with continued community support, Mercado Mayapan will become a premier cultural and commercial center for El Paso and the whole border region.

With very best wishes in this new year,

La Mujer Obrera

Bring on the New Year!

Dear Friends of Mayapan,

2010 has arrived!!! And we are very excited about all of the new opportuntiies and development that will be occurring in the Mercado in this new year.

We really appreciate all of the help and support each of you and your family and friends have given us during 2009--it was a challenging year, but we have made it to 2010!!

Unfortunately however some issues from 2009 have carried over. As many of you may know, yesterday the City of El Paso took steps to declare us in default on the loan that was made to the Mercado last summer. This action was taken despite our having met with the City staff on a monthly basis since June, and our having a meeting, at our request, with the city manager in mid December to present a repayment plan. As we have said all along, we are fully committed to repaying the loan in 2010, and we hope that the City will work with us to allow us to repay the note. (http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_14129934?IADID=Search-www.elpasotimes.com-www.elpasotimes.com)

Unfortunately a repercussion of this matter is that there is extensive confusion and concern about the Mercado's operations (now and in the future). We have attempted to explain that the Mercado is open, has been open and will continue to be open and operating in 2010. That in fact, 2010 looks to be an outstanding year for the Mercado's growth and development, including an expected announcment of a major grant in the coming weeks.

But right now, we need to continue to build and demonstrate community support. WE URGE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS to come to Mercado Mayapan--shop, eat, spend time in a family friendly environment. If you are out of town, check out our e-commerce site www.lummetik.com.

And if you have an organization or event, consider Mercado Mayapan, Cafe Mayapan or La Mujer Obrera's conference room as its site. Isabella will be happy to work through the details with you, just contact her at isabellarodriguez@mujerobrera.org or call her at 915-630-7048. Large or small, we have the facilities and support to make your event a memorable occasion.

Again, thank you for all of your support. And we look forward to working together this year to strengthen and grow Mercado Mayapan.

Best wishes, La Mujer Obrera