2023 News & Updates
December 2023
December 21st update - Good News!....most of the individual food items for the hampers have been purchased and delivered to our partners in Honduras and the food hampers have now been put together and distributed at the school in Retiro. Please see the "Photos & Videos" page of this website for photos of the food hampers being prepared and distributed at the school by a great group of volunteers! We are so thankful for everyone's assistance in getting the project to this point. The supply chain for the food items has been a bit slow but our partners in Honduras are working on putting the food hampers together for the families at the school in Macuelizo and we hope to have an update on the delivery of the hampers to that school very soon as well!
November 2023
November 23rd update - Food Bag Fundraiser- as reported last week, the fundraising goal has been reached! Funds have been transferred to our associates in Honduras and they are now busy arranging for the food items to be purchased from local suppliers. Once purchased the individual food items will grouped into food hampers ready for distribution. Our volunteers are also coordinating with the teachers at the two schools to make sure that every student is accounted for so that their family will receive a food hamper. The logistics of getting the food hampers to the two schools is also quite involved and we are so thankful for all the volunteers and truck drivers who work very hard to make this happen. We are not sure of the exact date for distribution yet but will post an update here when that is confirmed. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has assisted in getting us to this point!
November 14th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - we are pleased to announce that over the past week additional donations have come in such that there are now sufficient funds in place to meet the goal of providing food bags at Christmas to the families of 400 students at the two schools! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed so far. Your kind and generous donations are going to make a huge positive difference in the lives of many people in Retiro & Macuelizo. Donations can still be made and any additional non-designated ("general use") funds that come in will be put toward school supplies for the new school year starting in February 2024.
November 7th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - the fundraiser is now within $404 of the target of $16,400! Donations from a variety of sources arrived this week to raise the total funds received to $15,996. The fundraiser will run until December 1st and any donations received above $16,400 that are not designated for the food bags will be put into the general fund. The general fund is used for provide a daily meal for the students at the school, school supplies, uniforms for those children that don't have (can't afford) them, maintenance & upgrades to the school (classrooms, desks, chairs, etc) and the medical clinic.. Thank you all for your continued generous support of these projects.
October 2023
October 30th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - over the past week some very generous donations have arrived such that as of todays date the total raised is $14,251! This total now puts us just $2149 short of the fundraising goal of $16,400! To put this total into perspective, this means that we are almost 90% of the way to the goal of providing Christmas Food Bags to the families of the 400 students at the two schools in Retiro and Macuelizo! There is still a month left in the fundraising campaign and if you would like to contribute please see the information on the page that you will get to by clicking on the "Donate Now" button on the main page of this website. Many thanks to all who have contributed so far :)
October 27th - update - it was a busy day at the school & the medical clinic in Retiro recently. First there was some public health education in the classroom regarding information on nutrition & parasites...then next door to the clinic to have some blood testing done. Some of the students didn't like the needles but they appeared to feel better after it was over and they got a sticker on their arm! So thankful for the medical staff that come from Tegucigalpa to run these clinics for the folks at the school and in the surrounding neighborhoods. See the "Photos & Videos" tab at the top of the main page of this website for photos of the activity at the school and at the medical clinic.
October 23rd update - Food Bag Fundraiser - sufficient funds have now come in for FOH to be able to supply a food bag at Christmas to 286 families of students at the schools in Retiro & Macuelizo. The goal is to provide 400 food bags which means we are over two thirds of the way there! With just over a month left in the fundraising campaign there is still time to contribute if you would like to do so. Please "click" on the "Donate Now" button on the main page of this website for information on how you can make a donation.
October 12th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - more donations have arrived over the past 10 days resulting in a new total of $11,520! The fundraiser will run until December 1st so there is still time to contribute to the donation goal of $16,400!
October 3rd update - Food Bag Fundraiser - the fundraiser total has now broken through the $10,000 level to sit at $10,567 as of today's date! The goal is to raise $16,400 ($41CAN cost per bag) so that the families of each of the 400 students at the two schools will receive the gift of a food bag this Christmas. Again, many thanks to all the kind & generous donors who have contributed to this fundraiser so far! For instructions on how to make a donation, please "click" on the "Donate Now" button at the bottom right corner of the main page of this website.
September 2023
Sept 25th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - the fundraising total is now $9460 which means that 230 of the 400 food bags that we are hoping to distribute to families of students at the two schools at Christmas are now paid for. Stay tuned for further updates as donations continue to arrive. A huge thank you goes out to all the generous people who have donated so far. If you would like more information on how you can donate to this project then please "click" on the "Donate Now" button at the bottom right of the main page of this website.
Sept 18th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - donations continue to arrive and the total received is now $8865 which is over the halfway point to the goal of $16,400....thanks to everyone who has donated so far!
Sept 11th update - Food Bag Fundraiser - as of today's date just over $4100 in donations has been received, which means we are 1/4 of the way to the the goal of $16,400 (400 food bags). Many thanks to all those who have donated so far! Check back here often for further updates.
Sept 5th update - A Christmas Food Bag Fundraiser is now underway for the two schools that FOH supports in Retiro & Macuelizo! The goal once again this year is to provide a food bag to each the families of the students at the two schools. At a cost of $41 (CAN$) per bag (which is only $3 more than last year) our FOH partners in Honduras are able to purchase enough basic food supplies (sugar, beans, rice, salt, lard/oil, flour, oatmeal, powdered milk, etc) to feed a family of four for about a week. With a total of 400 students at the two schools, that means $16,400 (CAN$) is needed. This fundraiser will run until Dec 1st and FOH will purchase as many food bags as possible at that time with the amount of money that has come in. If the goal of $16,400 is met and surpassed, any additional funds will go toward providing new teaching and curriculum supplies (pencils, pens, paper, workbooks, lesson books, crayons, glue, erasers, etc), food for a snack each day for each of the classes and maintenance/upkeep of the schools. If you are interested in contributing to any of this project then please click on the "Donate Now" button at the bottom right corner of the main 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 (tax receipts are available for monetary donations from Canadian sources). Thanks for your interest and support....check back often for updates on how the fundraising is progressing!
Sept 1st - FOH is targeting a goal of 400 food bags for distribution to the families of the students at the schools in Retiro and Macuelizo at Christmastime. More info to follow....stay tuned!
May 2023
See the Photo Albums page for recent photos of some of the students at the school....in the classroom and outside learning to garden & grow seeds!
April 2023
One of the members of our Canadian Board is traveling to Honduras this month to visit the school and is looking to get a list of "needs & wants" for the school from the folks there. Some monetary donations have been received over the past couple of months so we will have funds to put towards projects at the school. Once our Board Member has returned with the list of needed items/projects we will post that information here. Stay tuned for further updates!
March 2023
The new textbooks & workbooks have been delivered to the school and the students & teachers are pretty excited to have the new curriculum materials!! Many thanks to all the kind and generous folks in Canada who donated to this project...and a huge thank you to our faithful partners in Honduras who provide all the logistical support in getting the books ordered, delivered and distributed at the school! More photos of the students and their new books can be viewed on the "Albums" page under the "Photos/Videos" tab on this webpage.
February 2023
February 24th update....the new textbooks and workbooks have been ordered but as with most places in the world at the moment, Honduras is apparently experiencing delays in the supply chain! There are some "screenshots" on the "Photos Albums" page on this website of some of the books that have been ordered....we are hopeful that the books will arrive soon :) As soon as there is a further update available it will be posted here!
Donations to the "new curriculum materials and classroom supplies" fund for the school in Retiro are continuing to arrive and the donation total is now almost $9000(CAN$). During the FOH AGM meeting on January 30th a motion was passed to send $6000(US$)....which converted to just over $8000(CAN$)....to Honduras. The new textbooks, workbooks and other classroom supplies have been ordered and should be available to the teachers & students when school commences in a few days! Thanks so much to all of the folks who have donated to this project....the students and teachers are very excited and happy to have the new learning materials! We are hoping to have photos very soon of the new materials being distributed to the students & teachers....stay tuned for further updates!
January 2023
Happy New Year! Donations toward the "new curriculum materials and classroom supplies" fund for the school in Retiro are continuing to come in and the donation total is now over $8000! The new school year in Honduras starts in early February so we are hoping to have the items purchased and the classrooms outfitted for the students & teachers by that time. Once again, thanks so much to all of you who have kindly & generously donated so far to the fundraising for the schools.....you are helping to make a positive difference in the lives of the students and their families!
