Reports on Offer Hope for 300 Youth in the Dominican Republic

Project Report | Apr 23, 2025
Activities Report: January - February 2025

By Veronica Taveras | Project Director

Dear Collaborators,

We extend our sincerest gratitude to each of our donors for joining us in transforming our community and fostering a culture of peace.Your generosity and commitment inspire us to continue our work at The Bienvenido Project, Funfonavi, where we support the children of the Bienvenido community.

Thank you for making a difference!

Activities in January

Our programs focus on nutrition, education, and socio-spiritual development.

Three Kings' Day Celebration: On January 5th, the Dominican Republic celebrates Three Kings' Day, a tradition where children receive gifts, toys, and sweets. The Red Bendición organized a special event at The Bienvenido Project, bringing joy to more than 150 children.
Visit to Ashton School: A group of 30 high school students from Ashton School, accompanied by their Human Development teacher, Mr. Michael, visited our facilities. They donated meals and spent the day sharing moments of joy and hope with over 150 children from Funfonavi.

Activities in February

Environmental Awareness and Cleanup Campaign: In collaboration with Industrias Nigua, we organized a community cleanup initiative. Mr. Fausto Valerio, a representative of the company, conducted an awareness session on recycling for children aged 3 to 17. Through this activity, more than 2,500 plastic bottles were collected, teaching the importance of environmental care.
Hygiene and Nutrition Workshop: Dr. Ana Cecilia Silverio de Bautista led a workshop on hygiene and nutrition for parents and teenagers, raising awareness about maintaining good health within their homes.
First Live Performance by the Funfonavi School of Music: Under the guidance of Maestro Ronald Jean, students from the Funfonavi School of Music gave their first live performance. It was an emotional and inspiring moment for the children, their families, and the community. More than 200 people attended the event.
Dominican Republic Independence Day Celebration: On February 27th, the Joás-Funfonavi Educational Center organized a cultural event where children dressed in traditional attire, recited poetry, and created patriotic drawings to honor the nation’s independence.
Total Meals Provided: 12, 598 We sincerely appreciate your continued support, which allows us to bring hope and positive change to the Bienvenido community. Together, we are creating a lasting impact. With gratitude, The Bienvenido Project Team

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Dec 27, 2024
Season's Greetings: A Report of Thanks and Congrats

By Veronica Taveras | Project Director

CHRISTMAS DINNER

REPORT SEPT - DEC. 2024

THE BIENVENIDO PROJECT - FUNFONAVI 2006-2024; 18TH ANNIVERSARY OF SERVICE, ENSURING EDUCATION, NUTRITION, AND SOCIAL-SPIRITUAL VALUES TRAINING FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN THE BIENVENIDO COMMUNITY, MANOGUAYABO RD, WHO LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY, IN ORDER TO BUILD A CULTURE OF PEACE.

DECEMBER

GIVING A GOOD NIGHT

As in many villages around the world, we celebrate Christmas, an event that brings families and friends together to ease the needs of the most vulnerable, showing them a little love and empathy, being a voice for those who have none, and making them a little happier. With your support, we gave a GOOD NIGHT to more than 500 people, offering meals, fruits, and treats, where each child is the prince of the night.

COLLECTIVE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

TRIAD CHURCH sent a group of volunteers from North Carolina, USA, to celebrate a collective birthday with more than 150 children from the FUNFONAVI family. It was a very meaningful day for every participant, where each one received a gift, candy, cake, hot dogs, sodas, and much more!

SCHOOL PJ PARTY

The JOAS EDUCATIONAL CENTER - FUNFONAVI provided a comfortable space for the little ones, where they attended school in their pajamas, enjoyed a seasonal breakfast, took photos, and shared time with teachers and students. After all, December is a time for celebration and sharing!

END OF THE FIRST SEMESTER

Teaching children to share their snacks and making others feel special will help leave a better world than the one we were born into. Children hug, forgive, and care for each other. At the end of the first school semester, we want every child to feel integrated, valued, and loved in the great FUNFONAVI family.

NOVEMBER

FAMILY DAY

The Bienvenido Project and the Bendición Network joined forces to invite the beneficiary families to celebrate FAMILY DAY, a day of equality, love, dynamic service, and family groups attending the activity. The guests enjoyed cotton candy, pizza, sodas, and a beautiful children's show where everyone danced, sang, and learned about family values such as love, equality, and service. We also ate pizza, sodas, and sweets.

OCTOBER

THE VIDA FOUNDATION FOR BIENVENIDO AND NEIGHBOUR, SWITZERLAND, donated over four hundred t-shirts to the beneficiaries of the Bienvenido community. Once again, The Bienvenido Project invited the youth to a NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS, where teachers, along with part of the FUNFONAVI team, gathered them for a very special time, teaching them how to love themselves, promoting non-violence, and how to take care of their bodies and minds in a society that is deteriorating more and more each day. Each champion received a toast and a NEIGHBOUR t-shirt!
THE AULA HOPE FOUNDATION FROM ASHTON SCHOOL brought a group of students to The Bienvenido Project to teach Basic and Secondary beneficiaries values of empathy and healthy coexistence through games. The Hope Foundation students also painted the children's faces and brought raw food for the feeding program.

SEPTEMBER

BACK TO SCHOOL 2024-2025

Due to the ongoing need in the Bienvenido community, home to over 20,000 people, The Bienvenido Project FUNFONAVI sponsors over 140 students through scholarships at the Initial, Basic, Secondary, University, English, and Music levels to ensure high-quality and competitive education in a sadly poor and needy society. This situation is a result of the lack of schools and opportunities for intellectual growth.

READING AND WRITING ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM SEPT - DEC

We started a reading and writing reinforcement program to help students reach the potential required at each grade level.

FEEDING PROGRAM SEPT - DEC 2024

BENEFICIARIES: 15,038

FAMILIES OF FUNFONAVI

GIFTING BACKPACKS

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Sep 2, 2024
Offer Hope for 300 Youth in the Dominican Republic

By Veronica Taveras | Project Director

It is our responsibility and joy to provide activities for the children at The Bienvenido Project to enjoy their summer vacations. For that, we have created a program of events to fit their age and levels but also their needs.

Those activities were:

Along with Joas Educational Center, we started our summer activities by celebrating with our kids from our Initial Levels, we celebrated their graduation of our ¨I KNOW HOW TO READ!¨ program. It is very satisfactory to see them being encouraged enough to read aloud, and with good diction, I might add, in front of their parents. We truly believe they are ready to face the new challenges in the next school year!

“NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS.” A space designed to learn values and develop group skills. Participants enjoyed a night of entertainment, gifts, candy, and drinks... and above all they learned eternal values that will help them grow and develop healthy and whole. We had a summer week in July where we shared with the children about values. 150 boys and girls participated, and we gave them breakfast and lunch to each of them.

¨FUN BACKPACKS.” Institutions such as La Tienda Transparente, Blessing Ministries, and donors anonymously, gave the children at The Bienvenido Project a live party, with characters, Popcorn, Face Paint, and a backpack equipped with school supplies and hygiene products. We delivered around 300 Fun Backpacks.

A STORY OF IMPACT.” The protagonist of this story was one of the first 15 children to start in The Bienvenido Project back in 2006. Due to an illness his mother suffered, he was born with a congenital problem, which resulted in loss of vision at the age of 6 years.

he was educated by the National School for the Blind, where he learned how to be independent, how to walk wherever he wanted to go with or without a cane, how to be friendly, a good student, and how to have fun! At the age of 12, he wrote a book titled: “A Journey Through My Life.” his story from his mom's pregnancy until this moment. With this book, he won a prize of a Lap Top with the Braille system. After finishing high school, Federico Henríquez y Carvajal University awarded him a scholarship, and on July 30th, he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Law.

He is a young man who inspires The Bienvenido Project, from Donors to every young person from the most impoverished communities in the world, he helps them believe that anything is possible! For us, it is an honor to be part of his transformation and the one that continuously occurs in the community, knowing that without our donors, this would not be nearly possible.

In July we served 3,597 lunches
In August we served 3,081 lunches

In total, we served 6,678 lunches!