SEQUIM — When Judith Pasco and her traveling friends go somewhere such as Mexico, Europe or Asia, they don’t just shop for a few gifts to bring home.
Fully enchanted, they choose art, clothing and other treasures for the Dia de Muertos dinner and auction Pasco will co-host at 6 p.m. Saturday.
It’s a fundraiser for the Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation, a partnership between people on the North Olympic Peninsula and young women in the Chiapas area of Mexico.
‘Gorgeous auction’
“This is the ninth year, and we do have an absolutely gorgeous auction,” Pasco said of the event, which begins with a Mexican-style vegetarian meal at the Sequim Masonic Hall, 700 S. Fifth Ave.
The menu: chiles rellenos, corn and tomato salad, beans and Mexican wedding cookies; Raven’s brew coffee and hibiscus tea; no-host beer and wine bar.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and based on the healthy attendance of past years, Pasco urges guests to come early “to scope out a seat and look at the auction,” which has gifts from Mexico, the United States, India and Turkey.
Admission is a suggested $20 donation to Mujeres de Maiz, the Sequim-based nonprofit organization Pasco co-founded in 2006.
Tickets are sold at the door only.
Mujeres de Maiz is Spanish for “women of corn,” Mexico’s sustenance.
The Mujeres de Maiz en Resistencia, a sewing cooperative of women who resist societal norms of sexism and racism, inspired this name, Pasco explained.
Her foundation works in partnership with indigenous Mayans in Chiapas to raise money for high school and college scholarships, offer enrichment programs for children in rural towns and help the women establish a community center of their own.
Mujeres de Maiz board members Molly Rivard and Steve Gilchrist, who have traveled to Chiapas with Pasco, are the lead cooks at Saturday’s dinner.
They and a crew of fellow volunteers will serve the meal and lay out the silent-auction riches — about 75 items this year.
Five more, including a traditional Talavera plate from Puebla, Mexico, and a table runner made by one of the Mujeres de Maiz scholarship women, will be in a live auction.
Pasco’s son, Eric Rust, the auctioneer a few years ago, will return for an encore.
El Dia de los Muertos
The evening also will feature a short program on El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
This is the much-anticipated occasion when Latin Americans honor family and friends who have died.
It’s a time of joyful remembrance, Pasco said. People share stories, set up home altars, display things their loved one enjoyed and lay flower paths so the spirits can find their way home.
This year’s event is dedicated to the late Pat Lang, an original Mujeres de Maiz board member.
“She traveled to Chiapas three times,” Pasco noted, “and will be remembered for her positive attitude, her wonderful sense of humor and her love of travel.”
Pasco, a retired Sequim High School Spanish teacher, takes small groups to Mexico once or twice a year.
She hopes to make another trip to Chiapas next summer to work with women in the villages around the city of San Cristóbal.
In the meantime, the Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation continues to raise money for scholarships and educational workshops there.
In 2014, the foundation received the highest rating from Great Nonprofits (www.greatnonprofits.org) for the second consecutive year.
To find out more about Saturday’s event and the foundation, phone 360-683-8979 or visit www.MujeresdeMaizOF.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
