2024 News & Updates
December 2024
December 18th update - the items for the food hampers have been gathered, put together into individual bags and are now ready for distribution. See the "Photo & Videos" tab on the main page of this website for a few photos of the food bags stockpiled at the home of one of the FOH partners in Honduras. They have a team ready tomorrow to load the food hampers onto trucks and transport them to the two schools for distribution to the families of the students that attend the schools. It's a huge job and we are so thankful for all the folks in Honduras that volunteer their time, energy and vehicles to make this happen!
December 11th update - a bake sale in support of FOH was held today at DFH Real Estate, organized by Katie Wilson (thank you Katie!) and hugely supported by the Realtors and staff. $500 was raised through the sale of the baked goods plus a supporter of FOH has matched that amount meaning that the grand total raised was $1000! This puts the fundraising total as of today at almost $32,000!
November 2024
November 30th update - Fundraiser update....donations are continuing to come in for the projects at the school and the fundraising total received so far is now just over $30,000!
November 26th update - another one of the traveling brigades of doctors & nurses from the Catholic Hospital in Tegucigalpa was at the FOH medical clinic adjacent to the school the other day. Lots of folks from the neighborhoods around the school attended the clinic to have their medical needs looked after. We are so thankful that the clinic is being regularly used in this manner! If you go to the "Photos and Videos" tab on the main page of this website you can view photos of the clinic in use.
November 18th update - Fundraiser update.....a couple of very generous donations came in a the end of last week and over the weekend that have pushed the donation total for the fundraiser to $28,600! This means that not only is funding now in place for the purchase of the new textbooks in February at the start of the new school year ($10,300) but that there are now sufficient funds received for the provision of food hampers at Christmas to the families of the students at the two schools ($18,000)! There is still time to donate to the food hamper fund if you have been thinking of doing so as the funds won't be transferred to Honduras until later this week. Fundraising is also continuing for the provision of new school supplies for the students for the start of the new school year in February 2025 ($6000 needed) with the deadline for this part of the fundraiser being January 15, 2025. Plans are also moving forward for a trip to the school in February for a couple of the FOH Canadian members. All funds for the trip to the school from Canada will be paid by the members who go, no donated funds will be used for that purpose. Thanks to everyone who has donated to these projects so far, your financial support is so greatly appreciated!
November 15th update - Graduation Day 2024 at the school in Retiro turned out to be a bit festive this year! After the graduation ceremonies a meal from "Chicken On The Run" (chicken, coleslaw, a bun & a drink) was provided for everyone by one of the school's long time supporters (thanks Rigo!)....and by the looks of things, a fun time was had by all! The students now have two months off and then school starts again in February 2025. Please go to the "Albums" tab under "Photos & Videos" on the main page of this website to see photos of the students enjoying their Grad Day luncheon!
November 8th update - Fundraiser update....the donation total for the fundraiser is now just over $26,500 which means that with one week left to go before the November 15th deadline for raising funds for the food hampers we are within $1800 of reaching the goal of $18,000! The amount needed for textbooks for the next school year has already been achieved ($10,300) and fundraising is on-going for the new school supplies for each classroom at Retiro ($6000 by January 15th, 2025). Thanks to all the folks who continue to generously support the work at the school and in the surrounding community. FOH could not do anything without your faithful donations!
November 1st update - Fundraiser update....donations are continuing to arrive and the total received to date is just over $25,000! What this means in terms of the goals of the fundraiser is that the new textbooks for next year are now fully funded ($10,300), there are sufficient funds to go ahead with purchasing the food hampers for 200 families of students in Retiro ($9000) and we are within $3300 of the total needed to provide food hampers for the 200 families of students at the school in Macuelizo ($9000)! The deadline for the food hamper fundraiser is just 2 weeks away (Nov 15th) and we are very hopeful that this goal will be met. As always, FOH has almost no overhead costs and all of the folks involved in assisting with these projects are volunteers....so any money donated goes directly to the project it was designated for. The fundraiser for school supplies for the new school year ($6000) is still in progress and the deadline for that part of the project is January 15, 2025. Thanks once again to all of the kind and generous donors who are supporting this project and making all of this possible!
October 2024
October 16th update - Fundraiser update....FOH is getting closer to having sufficient funds to provide Christmas food hampers again this year for 400 families of the students at the two schools that FOH supports in Retiro & Macuelizo. Thanks to some generous donations over the past few days the donation total (funds designated specifically for textbooks, for school supplies, for food hampers and also to the "general" fund) is now just under $24,000! The goal is to raise $35,000 and it's almost within reach! Thanks so much to all the generous folks who continue to support this work!
October 4th update - Fundraiser update....monetary donations are continuing to arrive and the donation total has now reached $20,000!
September 2024
September 27th update - Fundraiser update.... more donations have come in over the past week that have pushed the amount received so far to over $17,000....which is just about half way to the target of $35,000!! Some of the funds have been donated toward the food hampers and some toward the textbooks but the majority of funds have been donated to the "general use fund". Funds that are donated to a specific project will be used for that project and funds donated to the "general use fund" will be used to "top up" those specific projects to help reach those specific fundraising goals. Once again, thanks to everyone who has donated so far and we look forward as donation deadlines approach (Nov 15th for Food Hamper donations & Jan 15, 2025 for Textbook and School Supplies donations) to moving closer to that fundraising goal of $35,000. If you are interested in making a donation and would like information on how to do that then please click on the "Donate Now" button on the main page of this website. Donations of $20 or more from Canadian sources are eligible for a charitable donation receipt for tax purposes.
September 19th update - Fundraiser update.....Donations are continuing to come in as we work toward reaching our fundraising goal of $35,000…..$18K for Christmas Food Hampers for the 400 families represented at the two schools (donation deadline Nov 15th), $11K for new textbooks for each of the classes for the start of the new school year in Feb 2025 (donation deadline Jan 15th) & $6K for basic school supply starter paks for each student for the start of the new school year in Feb 2025 (donation deadline Jan 15th). To date over $10,000 has been donated which means we are almost a third of the way toward our goal! You can look at photos of the food hamper distribution in 2021 and some new textbooks in 2023 by clicking on the Photos/Video tab on the main page of this website. We are so thankful for the people who so generously and faithfully support this project. If you would like to know more about Friends of Honduras and ways that you can help then please view the other pages on this website and click on the "Donate Now" button on the main page. And stay tuned for further updates J
September 7th update - Fundraiser update.....approximately $2800(CAN$) in donations has been received so far toward the purchase of new textbooks for the start of the next school year in February 2025! We are so thankful for the support of our faithful donors. This year is the 25th Anniversary of the beginnings of Friends of Honduras (FOH) and in celebration of that milestone FOH is planning some other opportunities for you to get involved in this work as a donor. We are once again going to try to raise sufficient funds to provide the family of each of the students at the two schools we support with a food hamper at Christmas (each hamper will have enough food for a family of 4 for a week). Each hamper will cost approximately $45(CAN$), so with approximately 400 families represented at the two schools a total of $18,000(CAN$) will be required. And we are also looking to purchase "starter paks" of school supplies for each student for the start of the school year (ie. pens, pencils, colored pencils, erasers, rulers, notebooks, glue sticks, etc). Cost estimates are still being obtained for these items (likely in the $15 range) and updates will be posted here as soon as we have that information. There is also a plan being formulated for a group from Canada to go to Honduras in February to work on some projects at the schools and medical clinic...more info to follow as the plans get finalized! For information on how you can donate to any of these projects please click on the "Donate Now" button at the lower right side of the main page of this website.
August 2024
August 16th update - Things have been going well at the school in Retiro and the students are working hard each day in class. This current school year will end in another couple of months (the school "year" is February thru November) and in looking ahead we are trying to budget to buy some new textbooks for each class for the start of the new school year in February/March 2025. The textbooks needed for each grade are for Spanish, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Mathematics. Our partners in Honduras have obtained quotes for the cost of the textbooks and it looks like the cost will be approximately $10,300(CAN$). We have started fundraising for this project and if this is something that interests you and you would like to make a tax deductible donation toward this project then please click on the "Donate Now" button at the bottom right of the main page of this website for information on how you can do that. We are also looking into getting school year "starter paks" for each student (notebook, paper, pens/pencils, eraser, glue, etc) and information on that will be posted on this page as the details become available.
June 2024
June 21st update - A new photocopier at the school in Retiro has caused a bit of excitement among the students & teachers! With new textbooks hard to come by this new photocopier will allow the teachers to print worksheets and assignments for the students to work on. Thanks for everyone who continues to support this work.....it is making a meaningful difference in a lot of children's lives! You can see pictures of the new photocopier and some of the students on the "Photos & Videos" page of this website.
March 2024
March 15th update - as a result of some very generous monetary donations from our supporters in Canada, FOH has been able to supply new backpacks ("mochilas") to the students at the school in Retiro. If you click on the "Photos & Videos" tab at the top of the main page of this website and then click on the "March 2024 New Backpacks" tab you will see some great photos (many thanks to our volunteers at the school for taking the pictures!) of some of the students receiving their new backpacks....pretty exciting stuff....the students are very happy to have a way to carry their school supplies & notebooks to and from school each day!! FOH has also been able to supply some teaching supplies (ie. craft paper, white glue, cardboard, ribbon, colored paper, acrylic markers, whiteboard erasers, staples, paper clips, scissors, permanent markers, etc) so the teachers have something to work with as they are doing lessons and projects with the students. FOH is also working on getting prices/quotes on supplying new school uniforms and shoes for the students....if this is something that you would like more information on and/or would like to donate to then please check back here on a regular basis for updates.
February 2024
February 8th update - it took a little while longer than expected but the Christmas Food Bags have at last been delivered to the school in Macuelizo. Supply chain delays, lack of inventory and other extenuating circumstances caused a delay in getting the Christmas food bags to Macuelizo but this past Tuesday morning a great group of FOH volunteers were able to deliver the food bags to 200 families at the school in Macuelizo. Everyone was very excited to finally be able to make this happen and the students and their families were so appreciative of the food items that were distributed to them. To view photos of the food delivery and the happy recipients please "click" on the "Photos & Videos" tab at the top right of the main page of this website, then on the "Albums" button and then on the "February 2024 Food Bags at Macuelizo" photo at the top left. Thanks to everyone in Canada and in Honduras who contributed to this project, we could not have done it without you!
January 2024
January 13th update - Notice of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Honduras Society: Friends of Honduras Society - 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held at #202-3795 Carey Road, Victoria, B.C. (head office of DFH Real Estate Ltd.) on Monday, January 29, 2024 at 7 PM. All Welcome! Access to the building will be provided until 7 PM.
