Most effective Dominican Foundations?

delapaz said:

I'd like to learn more about the Dominican Foundations/Non-Profits that are currently in existense. Generally I'd like to learn about what they're "really" up to and which ones are worth working with (or not). I'll sound off the ones I've heard of, and to the extent anyone on this board knows of them, their work, or their people, I'd really appreciate your thoughts:

Foundations
1. Dominican Dream (...dot org. Julia Alvarez's brainchild)...

4. Beyond the Beach (...dot org. Canadians helping Dominicans...sounds cool)...

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I'll start off with a bit of info.

The DREAM Project www.dominicandream.org is not the brainchild of Julia Alverez (she is the Honorary Chairperson and as such lends her name to DREAM but is not involved in the day to day operations) but of Tricia Suriel, the former owner of the tourism company IguanaMama in Cabarete. The history of DREAM may be found at
http://www.dominicandream.org/what-is-the-dream-project/history.html

The Beyond The Beach Children's Foundation www.beyondthebeach.ca grew out of the like-mindedness of posters on another DR board, Debbie's Dominican Travel Forums. While we are primarily a Canadain creation (seven of our nine Directors are Canadians) we do have a Director from the USA and one from the UK. Here is a brief history I did for an e-mail earlier this summer:

"Sometime in late 2003 or early 2004 (yes, that long ago) a challenge was started in which various poster's at Debbie's Dominican Travel Forums challenged other posters at Debbie's and other travel boards (DR1, etc.) to bring school supplies for the DREAM Project in Cabarete. This continued for about a year and was wildly successful in bringing many, many thousands of dollars of gifts in kind to the DR from tourists from all over the English speaking world. This program has evolved into our Beyond The Beach program where we assist well intentioned tourists to drop off their donations at specified locations for furtherance to our supported charities and in a few cases we arrange for pick-up at the resorts for furtherance.

Once this challenge started we thought that we deserved a get-together to celebrate our successes and the 2004 Fiesta was born. This actually required organization so we formed the "Fiesta Committee" and this group planned the first annual Fiesta in July of 2004 near Windsor Ontario. We had over 30 attendees from Michigan, New York, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. One of the committee members children designed tee shirts and this became another fund raising avenue. It was here where the idea of the DREAM Vacation Give Away was formulated with a goal to be drawn for at the 2005 Fiesta. To this point we had lots of ideas; one huge ongoing success in the challenge and one idea for the future in the DREAM Vacation Give Away.

We had a great 2004 Fiesta and during the next year we sold tickets towards the Vacation Give Away and decided that we needed a more formal organization. By the 2005 Fiesta we had formally added the Mustard Seed orphanage to the DREAM Project as a supported charity on the North Coast and agreed in principle to work towards the formation of the Adam Vitaterna Literacy Project, named after a young Canadian boy who lost his life in January 2005 at the North Coast's Damajagua Waterfalls. We had also discussed the formalization of our group and at the 2005 Fiesta we signed the papers which formally gave birth to Debbie's Dominican Republic Children's Foundation and our letter's patent were issued on August 5th, 2005. We were an officially registered non-profit corporation under the laws of the Federal Government of Canada.

At the 2005 Fiesta we drew the winner of the DREAM Vacation Give Away and presented a symbolic cheque to the DREAM Project for $8400.00 CDN. We also had a wonderful door prize courtesy of the DREAM Project of a one week vacation (flights courtesy of jetBlue Airlines and AI accommodation courtesy of Sosua By The Sea Hotel). Very fortunately for me Jon, you drew my name, and my wife and I were honoured to be awarded the trip.

In the Fall of 2005 two of our directors took personal "leaves of absence" and the rest of us generally prepared for the high tourist season through the winter. In early 2006 both of the aforementioned directors re-joined the board but it was apparent that something was different. We continued planning for the Third Annual Fiesta but nothing substantive had been done yet towards the Second Vacation Give Away (although we did have a promise of a week's FREE AI accommodation at a new resort in Punta Cana). In addition a number of board members had opinions about finding supportable charities in Punta Cana which did not appear to sit well with a minority of the board. In April several directors resigned, including the one who was spearheading the Fiesta 2006 efforts. Those of us who remained were bloodied but not bowed. Our resolve was still strong and we pushed ahead, found an alternate venue and with the exceptional effort of the local director for that area planned for the biggest and best Fiesta yet. Planning for the Second Dominican Vacation Give Away continued and the offering of Appreciation Vouchers for donations of $20 were once again promoted to the boards to which we owe our existence and from which we get our support.

The 2006 Dominican Fiesta (the Third Annual) was a tremendous success and raised the most money to date from the on-site silent auction. In a new twist we have an ongoing Internet auction which will continue until September 4 and which will raise more funds for our supported charities. In addition ticket sales are steadily increasing in our 2006 Vacation Give Away and we are sure that there will be a significant push as Christmas nears as the draw will occur between Christmas and New Years. Support continued to grow and we were honoured to once again be supported by my friend Felix Jimenez the uncle of the current Tourism Minister of the DR whose name is also Felix Jimenez. We were also joined this year by Sr. Abdalah Castillo, the Director of the DR Tourism Board in Canada, who has already pledged his support towards next year's 4th Annual Dominican Fiesta.

I will be in Sosua for a week in September and amongst other things on my agenda I will be looking for a source of appropriate school type books which to use with the Adam Vitaterna Literacy Project previously mentioned. I also hope to visit both Mustard Seed and DREAM.

This year we have a Grand Prize in the 2006 Vacation Give Away of one week for two at the 5* Majestic Colonial Resort in Punta Cana with up to $1500.00 CDN towards airfare (which will be drawn between Christmas and New Years); a one week AI stay for two (airfare not included) at the Gran Ventana in Playa Dorada (which was won as a door prize at the 2006 Fiesta) and a two week AI stay for two at Fun Royale/Fun Tropicale in Playa Dorada which is part of the on-line auction (winners to be determined on September 4, 2006.

We are continuing to look onward and upward and have even more ideas for the future."

If I can shed any more light on either of these fine organizations, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience.

Best regards,

Gregg Andrews
Secretary/Treasurer
Beyond The Beach Children's Foundation
Gregg@beyondthebeach.ca
Gregg.Andrews@GMail.com

Don Polo. said:

They all steal,my son.

---EL DON.:tired:

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Comments like that only serve to prove that you excel in ignorance.

This comment, like most of your drivel, will be ignored by the vast majority of well-intentioned and caring DR1 posters.

Gregg

Don Polo. said:

They all steal,my son.

---EL DON.:tired:

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I have been on DR1 for 7 years and have met a few hundred people from this board.

I have had the pleasure of meeting and know the people that are connected with " beyond the beach" and the dream project so let me tell you that you sir are out of line making a statement of which you know nada about.

Don Polo. said:

They all steal,my son.

---EL DON.:tired:

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Ever since this dude(that's right, dude) came on board, love to criticize everybody that don't act or perform to his liking, man seem to me that you carry a chip in your shoulder that soon is going to fall off.




PS: the prozac is really expensive.. so get a refill:chinese:

Sorry to all those members that have a true interest in the workings of this board about the uncalled for responses of some people.

Having said that then let me state that I have been given the opportunity to moderate this forum. As the new moderator I will do my best to insure that the board rules are followed.

Please remember that in the upper right hand corner of each post there is an "exclamation mark" and by clicking that "mark" you will be reporting a bad post. When the next screen comes up you must state the reason you think the post is bad and then you must click submit. That bad post will be delivered to me and the administrative section of this board and either they or I will handle the supposed problem.

Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy DR1.

Rick

If I had to name the top three Dominican-focused not-for-profits, I would have to say that in terms of impact:

1. Participacion Cuidadana (serving DR as a whole)
2. Alianza Dominicana (servicing Dominican-Americans)
3. Dominican Dream (serving poor in DR)

In terms of organization and transparency I would probably renumber them to 3, 1 and 2.

I really don't know about Beyond the Beach to speak about it's efficiency.

Best,
D

deelt said:

I really don't know about Beyond the Beach to speak about it's efficiency.

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Depending on your definition of efficiency (I would define it as the percentage of donations which find their way to the donees named in the articles of incorporation) we will always do very very well as we are a volunteer group which pays zero for our operational costs. To date the only costs we have ever had have been the cost of meals associated with our annual fiesta, but they are covered by the entrance cost for the event; the cost of last year's DREAM Vacation ($3600CDN which still left $8400CDN to be donated to the DREAM Project) and the airfare for this year's Vacation Give Away (a maximum of $1500CDN out of a projected $10,000CDN in Donation Vouchers).

Our day to day costs are zero as we have no paid staff, no overhead and my company even foots the bill for office expenses, postage, etc. and I have personally prepaid the web hosting and domain registration costs for the BTB website for the next two years.

We have Directors from Canada, the USA and the UK and are a Canadian Federally Incorporated not-for-profit corporation which is in the process of seeking charitable status under the laws of Canada. Once achieved this will permit similar status to be sought in both the USA and the UK - one step at a time.

We are a small organization with two non-competing objectives:

1) Raise funds to assist existing worthwhile DR based charities like the DREAM Project and Mustard Seed Community.

AND

2) Direct tourist's kind donations of gently used clothing, school supplies, over the counter medicines and first aid supplies to reliable sources which will ensure they get to people of need.

To this end we are partnering with a variety of sources near where the tourists reside and on-site eyes and ears in the DR who are capable of assisting us in seeing that our goals are met.

If you require further information please just ask.

Gregg
Secretary/Treasurer
Beyond The Beach Children's Foundation

delapaz said:

I'd like to learn more about the Dominican Foundations/Non-Profits that are currently in existense. Generally I'd like to learn about what they're "really" up to and which ones are worth working with (or not).

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delapaz, I wonder why you want to know this? What drives your interest?

Secondly

delapaz said:

foundations or organizations working on health, education, infrastructure, or community development efforts?

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To start with, I have a list of 50 organizations working on everything you mention, as well as a few more. Many of these are small and community based, and some of them are large. Let me know your interest before I go to the trouble of finding the list and scanning or typing it up. Here are a few that are heavily involved in the Dominican Republic, off the top of my head .. Plan International, the Peace Corps, Dominican Outreach, Mustard Seed Foundation, Ilac, The Nature Conservancy, Reef Check, Quisqueya Foundation, Guariquen, Fundacion Falconbridge, Junacas ..
You should also go through the green team blog on this site. Many of the environmental foundations are mentioned there in one form or another.

delapaz said:

Gregg - looks like you got a little defensive there. Take it from me, there was no harm intended in the remark. I think D was as in the dark about BTB (if I may) as I was.

I commend you for your efforts, and am glad you've been so diligent in responding to the board.

So at the risk of oversimplifying what BTB does...you guys organize bi-annual fundraisers to benefit well-known and respected charities. I must say I like the fundarising mechanism - it's always a good idea to give the donors an incentive to give.

2 questions for you: what's your long-term vision? Secondly, do you know of any foundations or organizations working on health, education, infrastructure, or community development efforts?

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delapaz,

Sorry if I appeared defensive to you, it is sometimes difficult to detect the vagaries of the written word; I only meant it by way of explanation and perhaps passion for the project appeared to be defensiveness - it was unintended.

You are generally correct as to our fund-raising efforts, however, we are not restricted to a bi-annual frequency; so far that just seems about right for our 100% volunteer input status. We do accept, but not openly solicit cash donations (thanks Trina and Gary Short of this board for your kind donations) but our main efforts are directed to our Annual Dominican Fiesta (including the on-line auction) and the Annual Vacation GiveAway. 100% of realized results are then donated to existing, established Dominican based charities that we are comfortable with from the standpoint of local oversight. We are tourists, not local residents and therefore we cannot see on a periodic basis what our donations are doing; we must rely on the local oversight of the organizations we support.

We are only beginning to partner with like-minded groups who support our general goals, and we theirs. To date we have agreed in principle to accept donations from a Canadian group which collects items - we would then arrange for tourists to "mule" them to the DR and donate them to charities or groups we support (when the donation is items we accept less oversight than when we are making a cash donation). We are also starting to talk to a similar group which collects OTC medical supplies and we could arrange for transportation of some of these when we eventually establish some ties to groups which can make good use of this type of item.

As far as long term vision I would refer you to our Raisons d'etre from our website www.beyondthebeach.ca :



"Our mission is clear: We encourage travelers to make their journeys more than just vacations; to reach beyond the beach and assist us in equipping the children of the Dominican Republic with the tools necessary for learning and living, dreaming and achieving; to empower the children to free themselves from the restraints of poverty & lack of opportunity, and decide their own futures."



"Our vision is simple: By the actions taken to reach beyond the beach, we strive to make our efforts redundant and totally unnecessary at some glorious future date. The happiest day of this foundation's life would be the one when our efforts are not needed in any way to assist the children of the Dominican Republic. Our own planned obsolescence is our ultimate vision."

Perhaps a touch lofty but we like the idea of someday becoming redundant.

We are only two years old and have not been focusing on knowing about other groups but I am sure that over time we will inevitably discover other groups and their purposes (there is a group of four teachers from Ontario who volunteered for DREAM this Summer who are setting up an education Foundation, with some direction and input from us as to Canadian not-for-profit incorporation). We have also approved, in principle, a BTB effort which will be called the Adam Vitaterna Literacy Project, named after a young Canadian lad who tragically drowned at the Damajagua Falls near Puerto Plata in January of 2005. A section of our website will permit on-line donation of a set amount of money to purchase 1, 2 or more books for Dominican schools with at least a rudimentary library. Books will be purchased, bookplates will be installed and the books will be donated to the schools. I am on the North Coast later this month and I will be doing some work at that time to further this project and help bring it to fruition.

I hope this has further clarified and informed and I would direct you to our website at www.beyondthebeach.ca for more information. The site is fairly new and is an ongoing project so please check back from time to time.

Gregg Andrews
Secretary/Treasurer
Beyond The Beach Children's Foundation
Gregg.Andrews@GMail.com
Gregg@beyondthebeach.ca