Steve Katz benefit concert

Blood, Sweat and Tears guitarist Steve Katz divides his time between Connecticut and Yucatán, and when he’s south of the border, he’s doing good things. This time, a concert under the Casa Hamaca palapa in Valladolid is raising money to help villagers in need.

Casa Hamaca Guesthouse puts together despensas — packages containing pantry and household basics — for people in need in small villages. Each costs is in the 600- to 700-peso range.

Proprietor Denis Larson explains:

Members of my staff live in five villages around Valladolid and when we start looking for families we ask them, “who in your villages is in need?” They always know someone in need.

A few weeks ago we delivered a despensa to a recent widow and her children and another to a cluster of small palapa huts in another village. Sometimes the donations are pretty cut-and-dry and other times they are very emotional.

We do this year-round whenever a guest offers to purchase a despensa.