Offer Hope for 300 Youth in the Dominican Republic

Every year the boys and girls of The Bienvenido Project anticipate the day they will receive a new backpack full of school supplies. Most of the children’s parents or caregivers do not have the resources to purchase these supplies, and without them, they would not be able to attend school. It really is hope in a bag! I’ve personally been involved with this yearly event, and been taught a lot by these kids about being thankful for the little things. For instance, I’ve never placed a lot of value on a pencil before, but in Bienvenido, a pencil means everything to these kids. It really is a special day!

This event is made possible each year by different organizations. We’d like to give a special thank you to Fundación Dale Un Deseo and el Ministerio de adolescente de la Cristianización who helped us provide supplies for more than 100 children for the 2019-2020 school year. ¡Gracias!

Speaking of school, this year we were able to provide scholarships for 22 children thanks to the generosity of our supporters. These children would have been left out of school otherwise due to public schools being at capacity; a scholarship has an immediate and lasting impact! 

A challenge this year was not having enough funds to provide scholarships for all of the children from the previous year. This is the first time in 5 years, since we began the scholarship program, that we had to significantly reduce the number of scholarships offered rather than grow the program. This was not an easy thing to walk out, nor is it an easy thing to share with you. However, if you are reading this it’s because you are part of our team and we want to include you not just in our victories but also in the hardships. 

We hope your take away from this update is two-fold. 

1. We are SO grateful for those of you who consistently give to The Bienvenido Project each month in support of our school scholarship program (as well as those who give throughout the year!). Twelve dollars a month pays for one child to attend school, and as we’ve already shared, the impact is immediate and lasting.
2. We need your help growing our team of financial supporters. If you’ve personally been thinking about doing so, would you consider making this the month that you partner with us in this way? If you already support us financially, or are unable to do so at this time, would you consider sharing our work with at least one other person this month and inviting them to join our team? In order to grow our programs, we also need to grow our network. We can’t do this on our own!

With gratitude,