College of Business Administration

GROUP MEMBERS:

Brett Mobley
Lee Seward

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

“During each of the past several winters, 100 or more children, elderly or ill residents of the colonias of east Tijuana have died from a combination of inadequate shelter and exposure to cold. Project leaders said 120 children died in the winter of 1999 (Daniel J. Chacón, Union-Tribune Staff Writer, September 23, 2001).“

“Project Mercy is a non-profit agency based in San Diego. The goal of the project is the improvement of basic living standards and quality of life for impoverished families who live in shantytowns of the colonias east of Tijuana, Mexico. They do this by building sturdy houses, outhouses, and septic tanks for the poorest families in Tijuana.”

It was these quotes, and the accompanying article in the Union-Tribune that motivated us to get involved with Project Mercy.

Our initial intent was to assist them with two of their requested needs:

1.Funding to build homes.
2.A computer system to help with the creation of fund raising of brochures.

In our effort to find support for our mission we spoke with several corporate representatives including: Gateway Incorporated, Honeywell Incorporated, the San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the San Diego State Mecha Society. Due to the current economic downturn and related events to the Sept 11 tragedy, these entities were unable to assist us at this time.

Ultimately we found success in a completely different fashion than was our original intent. After hearing a radio advertisement for Charco Construction on how they are leading their business endeavors through ethical practices we decided to contact them. The thought of a San Diego based construction company supporting the home building efforts for the poor in Tijuana has a poetic ring to it.

After a few e-mails and one phone conversation with Jim Groen, the general manager we had arranged a deal that was mutually beneficial to both Project Mercy and Charco Construction. Jim stated that from time-to-time they receive out-of-specification windows, which they can not use. He suggested that they could leave these windows outside of the office on the night before the monthly Project Mercy trip to Tijuana. In return, the project coordinator could leave them with a tax-deductible donation receipt.

In addition, Kyocera-Wireless Corporation sponsored a book fair in late November and donated the proceeds of $600 to Project Mercy. A single house costs approximately $2600 to build. So we contributed towards about 25% of what was required for one home.

We also made a personal contribution of volunteering for a day building homes in Tijuana. In an eight-hour time frame, we were able to construct a “home” for a single 20 year-old women and her 2 children. The end result was a structure, which would have a tarpaper roof, 4 solid walls, a door, and eventually 2 windows.

Ethical justifications:

Utilitarianism:
Having homeless in Mexico fails to produce the greatest good for the greatest number. As a homeless individual these people are not able to produce goods or services let alone a wage to support their consumption. In fact they become a burden on society relying on others for their existence.

Deontology:
It is a universal rule that no person shall go hungry or die from exposure to the elements while others who are perfectly capable of preventing this situation take no action to avoid these events.

Social Responsibility/Philanthropy:
“Those who have wealth ought to share some of it with the less advantaged in society (Weiss pg. 83).”

Distributive Justice:
It is unfair and unjust for those residing just a few miles from the most affluent societies on the planet to be deprived of the opportunity for basic housing and sanitary living conditions.