Wednesday, October 8, 2025

15th birthday party canceled by Covid; youth uses cash to help needy

Instead of spending money on a lavish birthday celebration, a 15-year-old Mérida, Yucatán, girl opted to use her party funds to help feed the needy.

Jiromy Xool Pech, who turned 15 on August 3, asked her parents to use the money they would have spent on her birthday party to provide food for people who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Instead of having a party, I prefer to give food to people, to help themselves,” said the young woman.

Turning 15 is normally no small affair in the lives of young women in Mexico. The milestone birthday marks the passage to womanhood and normally entails princess gowns and elaborate celebrations in parties known as quinceañeras

But for Jiromy, a demonstration of excess in a time when so many are in need was something she chose to forego. 

Instead, she and her extended family spent the weekend prior to her birthday on Monday preparing and distributing food to her neighbors in need.

The menu centered around turkeys that the family had raised especially for the party and some of Jiromy’s neighbors and local businesses joined in. 

“It wasn’t what I had planned, but much better,” she said.

Source: El Universal (sp), Publimetro (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Carlos Olson San Vicente,

Chihuahua is first Mexican state to ban inclusive language in schools

1
The motives of the reform's author are both linguistic (eliminating "foreign formations") and political ("no more ideologized language or woke confusions”).
Justice statue

I used to practice ‘amparo’ law. Here’s why the proposed reform is worrying

0
In Mexican law, an amparo trial defends citizens who have had their rights infringed upon by the government. President Sheinbaum recently introduced a reform that would greatly reduce its scope.
forensic van parked outside a homicide

Does your town make the list of Mexico’s most violent municipalities?

2
According to homicide data for the 12 months between September 2024 and August 2025, five popular tourism destinations are among Mexico's 50 most violent municipalities.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity