2022 News & Updates 

December 2022

A Christmas Fundraiser update....Dec 30th.  The 2022 Christmas Fundraiser has been a huge success!  Over $14,000 was raised for the foodbag portion of the fundraiser which enabled FOH to provide the 380 families of students at the two schools with a hamper of food and basic needs items for Christmas.  Thanks to all the generous donors whose participation made this possible.  The donation total for the second part of the fundraiser, raising funds for new curriculum materials & classroom supplies for the start of the new school year in February 2023 at the school at Retiro, now stands at almost $7500!  And there is still time to make a donation....see the "Donate Now" button on the main page of this website for information on how to do that.  

Notice of the 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Honduras Society: Friends of Honduras Society - 2023 Annual General Meeting will be held at #202-3795 Carey Road, Victoria, B.C. (head office of DFH Real Estate Ltd.) on Monday, January 30, 2023 at 7 PM. All Welcome!  Access to the building will be provided until 7 PM.

A Christmas Fundraiser update....Dec 23rd. Distribution of the food bags has started! See the "Photos & Videos" page on this website for photos of some of the families in Retiro that your kind & generous donations have helped.  Fundraising is continuing for the Curriculum Materials & School Supplies fund with the current donation total being just over $6300! If this is something that you would like more information on or would like to make a donation please see the Donate Now button on this webpage. Merry Christmas everyone!

A Christmas Fundraiser update....December 17th.  Donations are continuing to arrive and as of this date the donation total is just over $19,000!  The supplies/items needed for the foodbags have been paid for and the foodbags are now being prepared for distribution to the families at the schools....thanks to everyone who has contributed to this goal being met.  And the fundraising total for new curriculum materials & teaching supplies for the school is now at just over $4500 (fundraising goal is $6000 by February 1, 2023 which is the start of the new school year).    

A Christmas Fundraiser....December 7th.  Our FOH partners in Honduras have received the funds for the Christmas Food Bags and are now in the process of gathering all the items to go in the food bags and preparing those bags for distribution to the families of the 380 students at the two schools.  Fundraising is ongoing both for the food bags and the new curriculum materials & school supplies for the classes....current donation total for the curriculum materials is nearing $4000 (target total is $6000)!  Thanks to all who have donated so far.....your generosity is making a huge positive difference in the lives of the students and their families.

November 2022

A Christmas Fundraiser update....November 28th.  Sufficient designated & general use funds have now been received for the purchase of the Christmas Food Bags and the money has been sent to Honduras.  There is still time to contribute to the fundraiser and any donations received that are designated for the food bags will go specifically to that purpose.  Fundraising is also continuing for the curriculum materials & teaching materials fund and will run until the end of January 2023 when the supplies will be purchased for the start of the new school year in February 2023.  Check back often for further updates!

November 28th.  See the "Photos & Videos" page of this website for pictures of the new/updated fencing & safety railings along the edge of the playground, the new/updated window screening in the classrooms and the new roof over the kitchen....big improvements in the safety and usability of the school grounds!  Thanks to everyone who contributed to these projects!

A Christmas Fundraiser update....November 22nd.  The new donation total as of today is $14,660 of which $1500 is designated for curriculum & school supplies, $1230 is designated for the food hampers and just over $11,900 designated for general/where needed use.....which means if the general use fund & the food bag fund are combined, we are only $1300 short of the goal of supplying a food bag at Christmas to 380 families connected with the two schools!  All donated funds for the food bags will be sent to our partners in Honduras by the end of the month to facilitate the purchase of the items needed to put the food bags together.  Fundraising for the curriculum materials & teaching supplies will continue until the end of January 2023 at which time the supplies will be purchased for the start of the new school year in February 2023.

A Christmas Fundraiser update....November 14th.  Donations are continuing to arrive and the total received as of today is almost $11,000, which is over halfway to the fundraising goal of $20,000!  Approximately $1500 of the donations have been designated for curriculum materials and teachers supplies, so at this point further donations to the food bag fund of approximately $5000 are needed to meet the goal of $14,440 (which will provide a food bag to nearly 400 families of students at the school), and approximately $4500 is needed in the curriculum materials fund to reach the goal of $6000 (each of the 6 classes at Retiro will get new curriculum materials & teaching supplies for the start of the new school year in Feb 2023).  Thanks to those who have donated, your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated!  Check back here for further updates on how the fundraising is progressing.

A Christmas Fundraiser update....November 4th. Donations are continuing to arrive with the total as of today being approximately $8000......$6000 of that total is designated for "general use", $500 is designated for "food bags" and $1500 is designated for "curriculum materials and teacher's supplies". The total fundraising goal is just over $20,000 so we are well on the way! In order to provide our partners in Honduras with enough time to purchase the food items and prepare the individual bags to give out at Christmas, the funds for the food bags will need to be sent to Honduras by the first week of December. FOH will take whatever the final donations total is at that time and will stretch it as far as possible to feed as many families as possible. The deadline for the "curriculum materials and teacher's supplies" part of the fundraiser will be near the end of January 2023 so that supplies can be purchased for the start of the new school year in February 2023. Many thanks to all the kind folks who have donated so far....your generosity is so appreciated by the students and their families!

 

October 2022

 

A Christmas Fundraiser update....October 27th.  The donation total as of today is almost $4000 with $3000 in donations designated to the "general fund", $470 designated to the "Christmas Food Bags" fund and $460 designated to the "curriculum and teaching materials" fund.  Thanks to everyone who has donated so far!  More updates to follow....

 

A Christmas Fundraiser!  The end of the year is fast approaching and once again FOH is working toward raising enough funds to provide a food bag at Christmastime to the family of each of the students at the two schools that FOH supports (Retiro & Macuelizo).  For a cost of approximately $38 (CAN$) per bag, our FOH partners in Honduras are able to purchase bags containing enough basic food supplies (beans, rice, sugar, flour, corn, oil, etc,) to feed a family of four for about a week.  There are 180 families represented at Retiro ($6840 needed) and a further 200 families at Macuelizo ($7600 needed).  The other fundraising goal that FOH is focused on is for the purchase of new curriculum & teaching materials for the teachers for the start of the new school year in February 2023.  The classes each need new/updated/current textbooks/notebooks/workbooks/lesson books plus teaching supplies (craft/crepe/construction paper, glue, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, etc.)  There are six classes and the cost will be approximately $1000 per class so a total of $6000 is needed.  If you are interested in contributing to any of these projects then please see the "fundraising" page on this website for information on how to do that.  Any donations received that are designated for a particular project will go directly to that project.  Any non-designated donations received will go to the general fund and will be put toward the project with the greatest need.  And as usual, there are no paid positions at FOH and almost no overhead costs so virtually all of the funds donated will go directly to funding these projects in Honduras.  Thanks for your interest and support....check back often for updates on how the fundraising is progressing!

  

October 2022

October 2022

Work is well underway on the framing for the new roof on the kitchen/lunchroom at the school.  The metal roof will be a huge upgrade/improvement over what was there previously plus a new interior wall and drain have been installed to help keep the interior dry.  There are photos available of this project available to view on the Photo Albums page of this website.  Check back often for further updates.

 

September 2022

New photos of the finished roof and the interior renovations on the classroom, bathroom & storage areas at the school can be viewed on the Photo Albums page of this website.  The students & teachers are very happy and very thankful for the refurbished spaces that are now available for them to use.

August 2022

A welded metal handrail is being installed on the stairs and around the playground at the school....this will make things much safer for the students when they are on the school grounds.  See the Albums page on this website for photos of the handrailing being built.

The roof on another building at the school in Retiro is being replaced.  See the Albums page on this website for photos of the work in progress.

 

July 2022

Funds have now been sent to Honduras to cover the cost of putting a roof over the kitchen & lunchroom and to replace a roof on another one of the classrooms.  Both roof structures will be made of welded & sheet metal....much better that the wood supports that were used in the past.  A curtain drain will also be installed at the base of the wall in the kitchen that should alleviate (and hopefully eliminate!) the water ingress/flooding problems in the kitchen and lunchroom.  Photos to follow on the "Photos & Videos" page on this website as they become available.  

June 2022

The roof replacement is now completed on one of the classrooms and it looks great!  Photos available on the "Albums" tab under "Photos & Videos" on the main page of this website.  Photos are also available of the new backpacks & school supplies being distributed to the students.  Nothing like having some new pens, pencils and notebooks to make learning a bit more fun! 

May 2022

Roof replacement on one of the classrooms has started!  Check the "Albums" tab under "Photos & Videos" on the main page of this website for a few pictures of the work in progress.  Purchases of school supplies, backpacks for the students & hand-sanitizing stations for the school are also underway.  More updates to come....

April 2022

Good news!  The students are back at the school on a limited basis, learning in a classroom setting.  Hopefully, as the health situation with the pandemic continues to improve, the classrooms will soon be full again.  You can go to the Photos/Videos tab on this website to view some recent pictures of the students and teachers back in class.  And more good news....funding has now been received for replacing the roof on one of the classrooms!  So thankful for this donation.  There are lots of items still on the "wish list"....see below.  If you would like to participate in funding any of these items, please let us know. 

April 2022

Here is a "wish list" of items that FOH is hoping to fund over the next few months.  Prices shown are in CAN$ and will be amended as current market prices are received from Honduras.  If you would like your donation to go toward a specific item or items please let us know.  There are some recent photos on the "Photos & Videos" page of this website that show the aging roof on one of the classrooms along with some photos of the school grounds. 

Funding Goals/Wish List for the Schools & Medical Clinic

(Amounts shown are in Canadian Dollars and are estimates only.  We are working with our partners in Honduras to get firm prices on the following items)

 

Replace roofing materials on 3 classrooms                                ($8000 X 3)                                             $24000

New Student Desks & Chairs in 3 classrooms                            (24 desks X $150)                                   $3600

                                                                                                         (48 chairs X $75)                                     $3600

New whiteboards/blackboards & accessories                             ($400 per grade)                                     $2400

Grade appropriate reading books for 6 grades                            ($1000 per grade)                                  $6000

Cabinets to store the new books                                                   ($600 per grade)                                    $3600

Supplies and labor costs to create garden beds on the terraced school yard.  The students are learning to start plants/vegetables from seeds and need an organized place to do that.  Produce from the gardens could then be used in the school kitchen for lunches for the students.                                                                                                                                                                                                       $3000                                  

Hand washing & sanitizing stations plus supplies for the year  ($400 X 2)                                              $800

Safety railing/fencing along the top of the retaining walls                                                                         $2000

 

                        

February 2022

The new school year is set to start at the end of this month but there is still some uncertainty about the guidelines & regulations that must be met to allow the schools to re-open.  There are indications that a number of things may be required including hand washing/sanitizing stations at the entrance to the school grounds and the classrooms.  Thankfully, with the success of the fundraiser at the end of last year, there are funds available that will hopefully cover the costs of any items mandated by the government for the re-opening plus allow for the purchase of new curriculum & classroom supplies for the schools, and notebooks & individual supplies for the students.  Further updates to come as more information becomes available.....stay tuned!