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# Friends of El Faro take flight at the SM Airport & People Places
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/friends-of-el-faro-take-flight-at-the-sm-airport-people-places/
- Published: 2004-05-15T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:18:46.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Daily Press staff*

Sheryl Crow headlined last weekend’s fundraiser at the Santa Monica Airport, which raised thousands for an orphanage in Tijuana.

It was a night filled with food, drink and music as hundreds packed the Barker Hangar. Crow performed, as did Dwight Yoakam, Vonda Shepard, Lili Haydn and The Dan Band, to name a few.

All proceeds from “The Second Annual Night With Friends of El Faro,” which included revenue from $100 tickets and a silent auction, went to El Faro 2, a Mexico orphanage. The first annual fundraising concert was held in 2003 and more than 800 guests raised some $50,000 for the children.

Friends of El Faro, a Los Angeles-based group of volunteers, began making monthly pilgrimages to El Faro 2 in 2000 after reading an article in the Los Angeles Times. In addition to providing the kids with affection, the group assists the limited, overworked staff with cooking and cleaning help, volunteers said.

Through their efforts, many improvements have been made to the physical condition of the grounds and home — a playground has been built and reliable transportation has been found, volunteers said.

The Casa Hogar El Faro 2 Orphanage was founded in 1998 by Jorge and Carmen Gonzales, who sold their home and invested their retirement funds to care for homeless children on the eastside of Tijuana. The orphanage grew quickly and soon the small structure located on a tiny piece of land with no indoor bathrooms was home to 50 children. Today, more than 100 children call El Faro home. But in 2002, the sponsor which had been covering the basic monthly costs of food and utilities for the orphanage withdrew its support, creating a huge deficit in El Faro’s operating budget, volunteers said. They added that small fundraisers and individual donations aren’t enough to keep El Faro in operation and its children with the proper nutrition, adequate water and sanitation.

For more information, log onto http://www.friendsofelfaro.com.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/051504-08_01.jpg)

of Jolson Creative Sheryl Crow performed last Saturday night in the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica to benefit El Faro 2, an orphanage in Tijuana. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/051504-08_02.jpg)

of Jolson Creative Sheryl Crow performed last Saturday night in the Barker Hangar at Santa Monica to benefit El Faro 2, an orphanage in Tijuana. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 15, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)