To our supporters
There are many people and organizations who help and support ColombiaCare. The various volunteers that give their time, effort and enthusiasm to do fundraising, the many generous people who give us their trust and support, and the organizations in Colombia that join their forces to ours to make our dreams a reality. To all of them many thanks. We couldn't be without all of them. We are all part of a big team making a difference to some children.
Some Special People
Even though there are many special people who work with ColombiaCare, we would like to mention some very special ones.
| Marsha Vaughan who very sadly lost her battle to cancer in January of 2009. Marsha, a great friend of ColombiaCare since its beginnings, was always very concerned in ensuring that the children have books that were interesting and readily available to them. Every year, she gave us a special donation to buy books for the libraries we have in the two community centers we work with. At the end of last November, the day before going into a hospice, she called to inform me that she had sent her 2009 donation since she wasn't sure she will be here or able to write the check in 2009. In honor of Marsha's amazing generosity we created, in one of the libraries, “Marsha's Corner” with all the books that were bought with Marsha's donations and others from friends of Marsha for that purpose. Marsha will always be in our memories and her “corner” will always be present in ColombiaCare's efforts. |
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Other very special people are the brothers Matt and Eric and their mother. Last year when Matt was eight years old, he gave ColombiaCare a donation from his own savings. Matt was very specific in how we should use his money. It was to buy books for the children. See below. At the end of last year he was joined in his generosity by his younger brother Eric. This time, they wanted to bring the books themselves, books that they have enjoyed and therefore, knew other children will enjoy them. They bought several books of the series "Magic Tree House". These to children and their mother are an example of generosity. |
| Gabriella LoMonaco, a 13 year old from NY sent two boxes of supplies to the Colombian children. In addition, she took the time to write them a letter, she really cares. This is the letter Gabby sent to the children: Dear Kids In Colombia, |
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Children enjoying their brand new supplies. They loved the supplies and were very touched that a girl from New York was interested in them. More pictures here
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Thank you Gabby!
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Mathew, an eight year old boy from New Jersey is very concerned that not all the children in the world are as lucky as he is. He wanted to give part of his savings - from his daily allowance, to an organization that helps children. Through his Mom, he knew of ColombiaCare. He interviewed us to make sure he understood what type of activities we did and where the money would go. He also suggested uses for his contribution, he recommended some books for the children. We will follow Mathew's instructions. Thank you Mathew for giving us such an example. |
Alex, was going to Bogota, Colombia in April 2007 and wanted to do something for the children. He decided to collect school supplies. He put a box in front of his office and the response was overwhelming. He took these supplies to a very poor school of abandoned or orphan children managed by some Nones in Bogota. Here are some pictures of the when the children received the supplies. The children smiles say it all.
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Giovanni Lomonaco, a boy from New York City . As part of his school community activities, Giovanni choose to collect supplies to give to the children of the La Cruz School. The children were very happy to receive these supplies. Some said afterwards, very proudly, "... some of our material comes from the US ". The children were even more impressed when they found out it was a boy, like them, who had been the one who obtained the material. Thank you Giovanni for this beautiful gift, and for putting so many smiles on the faces of the La Cruz children.
The other special people we wanted to mention are Luisa Fernanda Gutierrez and Francia Elena Fernandez . These two young women are leading the Communications project in La Cruz School in Cali , Colombia (see Projects). As we mentioned in the January 2006 report, their dedication, love and enthusiasm are inspiring. They will be graduating in April from the University (Universidad del Valle, Cali ), majoring in Education. As part of their practice-year (internship), they designed and are implementing the communication program that ColombiaCare is sponsoring. Seeing these two young women in action, the way the children respond to them and most of all, seeing the very concrete results they have obtained, made us feel that indeed we are making a difference. The work of Luisa and Francia is not easy. The school is on a hill in the outskirts of the city. Transportation is not always reliable nor very comfortable since the roads are not paved. When it rains, it pours -literally- since it is the tropics, and their arrival or departure from the school is made even more difficult. The conditions at the school, even though they have improved, are not the best. The problems that they have to deal with are serious and very hard to deal with since this is a population of displaced families, where violence and poverty are the common denominator. Yet, Luisa and Francia remain unfazed by the difficulties, always smiling, always looking ahead. Thank you Luisa and Francia for giving us such an example of generosity and dedication.
Luisa and Francia
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Enjoy the following pictures of Giovanni's gift
Is all of this for
us? |
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Let's try this new
material... |
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Do you like my drawing? |
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Let's read one of
the thank you letters for Giovanni |
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Cali, February 14, 2006 Hello Giovanny, Thank you for the supplies that you sent us and I hope that one day you will come to vist us that way I can thank you. You have a big heart I hope you come soon. I say good bye now with a big hug. With love Diana Disely Largo Buitrago My mood now: Happy :-) Time: 10:30 Am |