FRUIT HEIGHTS — Brian and Brittany Barton have taken an unconventional approach to serving their community.

The Fruit Heights couple owns two separate cleaning companies and decided to move to Mexico in 2019 to run their companies remotely and spend their days completing service activities for Mexican families. The projects focus on helping families become more self-sufficient.

After years of working on various projects, the couple has recently launched a local campaign to bring funds to families who would like to operate their own chicken coops. 

“The focus that we have is we have a charitable organization that’s established in the US and its mission is to try and provide self-sufficiency to some of the people here to get them out of poverty and put a focus on families and those that really need immediate help,” Brian Barton said. “It’s for those that need food and water and immediate needs, as well as trying to get them connected with self-sufficiency type projects.”

Brian Barton said the self-sufficiency projects vary, but primarily focus on teaching families to raise cattle, grow their own food or other steps to help them climb out of poverty.

“‘There’s just a different attitude when you’re around people that actually need help,” Brian Barton said. “They’re not looking for handouts. It’s for those that are really in need, and you don’t see that in the states.”

Both Bartons said they like to work primarily with single mothers and one-parent families, as those families are often facing the most need and a single mother cannot go away to work a job while raising kids.

“A single mother can’t really go out and work because it costs more to find a babysitter than it does to stay home,” Brian Barton said. “Having eggs and chickens that she can raise in the backyard is an excellent way for them to make money.”

Brittany Barton’s interest in helping people came in 2015, when she took a trip to Guatemala to do dental and medical work for religious missionaries. While there, Brittany and her group gained a passion for bringing medical services to developing countries.

“I just fell in love with the work and being able to help a bunch of people,” Brittany Barton said. “We were able to go to different towns and deliver food and clothing to people and go to hospitals and things like that to give aid.”

The couple has a young son who they hope to raise in the spirit of charity and to set an example for him.

“It was important for us that our son would also see this and be able to grow up in a life of service and helping others,” Brittany Barton said. “Rather than being entitled, it’s the idea of seeing those in need and learning that life is more about service than it is about taking.”