I read your recent article about the kidnapping of Ugueth Urbina's mother.  I am an Irishman with a Welch name (joe jaycox) who lives in Chicago and am married to Sheila Mary Donohue from Galway. I also lived and worked in Caracas while in the Peace Corps from 1962 to 1964.

I am writing to tell you about something I believe will be interesting to ALL Venezuelans who love baseball called The Chico Carrasquel Foundation.

• I believe this story might be of interest to VHeadline readers someday.

Chico Carrasquel is a living legend in Venezuela. He was the most important and influential figure for many countrymen that have played major league baseball including Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepcion, Ozzie Guillen, Omar Vizquel, Victor Davalillo, Tony Armas, Magglio Ordonez, Bobby Abreu, Andres Galerraga, Manny Trillo and many others.

In January, 2005, the Foundation will begin its work in the barrios of Venezuela starting with Catia, Petare and 23rd Enero in Caracas.

The mission of the foundation will be:

1.  to arrange guest visits to the barrios by former and current Venezuelan baseball stars. (Many of them are listed above). They will sign autographs and give baseball clinics to the boys and girls of the barrios.
   
2.  to award scholarships for tuition free education to the young men & women from the barrios to give them a chance for an education.
   
3.  to arrange cultural exchange visits for los jovenes de los barrios involving a two month stay in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The general purpose and mission of the Chico Carrasquel Foundation is to help children of the barrios to grow a better future.

In early November Chico and I will come to Caracas to meet with organizations who know about the foundation and have expressed interest in helping us.

Some of these organizations are:

•  The YMCA of Venezuela
•  The Mendoza Foundation
•  The Carter Center
•  Prominent influential Venezuelan families from the private sector

The foundation is privately funded and will be run by two former Peace Corps voluneers who served in Venezuela and two prominent Venezuelan nationals.

Thank you and we will read with interest your future articles.

Sincerely,
Joe Jaycox
JJaycox@aol.com
Former CEO/President
Executive Office Furniture, Inc.
Former Peace Corps Volunteer Venezuela 1962-1964

The Dancing Devils of Yare                                Photography: Santiago Padilla