How Rancho Feliz uses volunteer power to break the cycle of poverty in Agua Prieta, Sonora.

Featured on the February 3rd, 2022 edition of ARIZONA SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore:

• Learn about Rancho Feliz, a volunteer-powered effort to break the cycle of poverty in Agua Prieta, a town located just south of the Arizona / Mexico border. Mark talks with Scottsdale businessman Gil Gillenwater, who has been working to raise the quality of life for Agua Prieta’s citizens for almost 35 years, along with Rancho Feliz participants Reyes Zagaste and Veronica Estrada.

Reyes Zagaste (left) and some of his family. He says that the educational opportunities that Rancho Feliz made possible were "beyond his wildest dreams as a father".

courtesy Rancho Feliz Charitable Foundation

• A conversation with Marquez Price, a multi-faceted author and essayist from Tucson, who shares selections from his debut collection of poetry called My Train is On Schedule.

Author, essayist & poet Marquez Price.

• Tony Paniagua introduces us to Michael McDonald, who has just become the new executive director of The Tucson Audubon Society.

The Tucson Audubon Society began its Southeast Arizona Birding Festival in 2011 and has attracted hundreds of visitors to the events.

Glenn Butler

• And, “Stories That Soar!” presents a play written by a Sanjida, a 5th grade student at Sam Hughes Elementary who is also a Bengali immigrant. She wrote Uncita, a story meant to remind others that material goods should never be valued more than friendship.

Stories That Soar! produced the radio version of “Uncita”, written by Sanjida, a 5th grade student at Sam Hughes Elementary in Tucson. Sanjida's family are Bengali immigrants to the United States.