Last January, "American Idol" superstar and his mother, Lupe, went to her native Honduras and to Guatemala, hosted by Mentors International. There, they saw firsthand how the organization helps provide loans and training to help families in home-based businesses work their way out of poverty.
On Oct. 8, mother and son, both LDS, gave to the effort themselves by providing a free performance at Mentors' Annual Gala fundraiser at the Salt Lake Marriott, before a crowd of several hundred donors.
It was the organization's 20th anniversary, and the two Archuletas were up for the occasion in a performance that featured fast-paced Latin music and heartfelt ballads evoking the optimism that drives Mentors.
"We were really thankful to be able to go and see the work that's being done for the people down there, and families prosper and come from low places and reach their goals and see their dreams come true," David said.
Receiving Mentors' International Humanitarian Award was microfinance pioneer Joe Hatch, the founder of Foundation for International Community Assistance, one of the worlds' leading microcredit institutions. He is co-founder and executive committee member of the Microcredit Summit global campaign.
He spoke of his dream that world poverty be eradicated by 2025 through such initiatives as village banks, his brainchild.
He said he had been coming to Utah for 12 years, going mostly to BYU. "I have a lot of respect for the Mormon church and its interest in micro-finance. They have given three times more in donations than any other church in the country."
Originally called Enterprise Mentors International, the organization was formed in 1990. Menlo Smith, an LDS mission president from St. Louis, Mo., serving in the Philippines, had observed widespread poverty in that nation among families trying to operate businesses at the mercy of loan sharks.
Upon returning home, Brother Smith and others developed a self-help program with a partner organization in the Philippines offering micro-enterprise training, mentoring and micro-credit.
Two decades later, the organization he and others founded, which has since moved its headquarters from St. Louis to Draper, Utah, works with partner foundations in the Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru.
Through Mentors' influence, some 2 million people have been lifted from poverty.
Mentor services raises family from poverty
One of the Mentors clients visited last January by David and Lupe Archuleta was Imelda Sanum Zil in the area of Patzicia, Guatemala. She and her husband, Odgas, had been struggling to survive. In 2005, they began a business making wooden crates for the shipping of produce.
Through the services of Mentors Guatemala, she has increased production, hired 12 employees, and boosted the family income from $125 to $1,800 a month.
