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Greetings!
Surprise! It is my great pleasure to send you this first
E-newsletter from The Fabretto Children's
Foundation. We will be using these email
communications to give you updates on our
programs, share some of our success stories with
you, and let you know about upcoming events. We
hope you enjoy this new way of learning more about
how your tremendous support is benefiting the
children of Nicaragua.
| Children Write to their Sponsors |
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We have just finished our first all-child letter writing
campaign from sponsored children to
their "Padrinos". It's been quite an undertaking, but
the results have been
amazing! All the children expressed their deep
gratitude for the benefits their sponsors are
providing them and many included sweet and
touching anecdotes of their lives. The original letters
in Spanish were accompanied by an English
translation, and in most cases with a recent picture
of the child and a drawing that he or she did.
The response from the sponsors has been incredible.
Many have already sent back replies, telling their
child of their own lives and
including pictures of themselves, which many of the
kids requested. We hope this effort will lead to long
lasting pen-pal relationships and support for the
children.
If you would like to receive your own special letter,
sign up to be sponsor! You will change a child's life.
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| Launch of The Teatro Alpino Project |
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Our Music and Folkloric Dance Program at our center
in Cusmapa has outgrown the currently available
facilities. We are very happy to announce the
launch of the Teatro Alpino Pledge
Program which will help us meet the costs of building
a
center that will serve our students and the
community. We hope to begin construction in early
2007. The Teatro Alpino will be a wonderful facility
that will meet all of our
program needs and serve as a cultural center for
the town. If you are interested in supporting the
Music and Performing Arts Program at Fabretto, our
website has much more
information on this great project.
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| Brian Gonzales - 2005 Volunteer of the Year |
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We are extremely fortunate at Fabretto to have
wonderful volunteers who come down to Nicaragua
to share their time and efforts with us. In some
cases, a volunteer will help us develop new
programs and make a long-lasting and tremendous
difference in how
we serve the children in our programs. Brian
Gonzales is one such volunteer.
Brian spent more than 3 years living in the town of
Cusmapa working with Fabretto to
establish a Music Program. The results of his efforts
have been incredible - Fabretto now runs the largest
program of its kind in all of Nicaragua, and this
within only 5 years of creation! Brian continues to
work
closely with the program and his ongoing support and
advice on operations are tremendous assets to the
staff and children of Fabretto.
It is for all his efforts and dedication that we were
delighted to present him with our 2005 Volunteer
of
the Year Award at our Chicago Night for Ninos
Benefit on November 4.
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| Mark Your Calendar - Upcoming Events |
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It's not too early to pen these in! Our website will
soon have tickets available for both these events.
- Miami - Friday, March 31 at Nikki Beach
- New York - Saturday, April 22 at Nikki
Midtown
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Big Changes at Fabretto! |
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As you may already know, Francis Rienzo will be
leaving his position as President of the Foundation as
of January 1, 2006. His efforts over the last 4 years
have yielded incredible results and we are very happy
that he will continue his relationship with us as a
Board Member and as a co-chair of our New York
benefit.
It is my great honor to be taking over as President of
FCF at the beginning of next year. I have been
involved with Fabretto for close to a decade, starting
as a volunteer chairing our Washington DC Benefit
and moving up to my current position as Chief
Financial Officer. I am looking forward to
leading the organization as we approach the
tremendous opportunities that we see coming
down the road in 2006 and beyond. I would like
to thank our Board of Directors for the
confidence they have placed in me by appointing me
to this new position.
I'm also very excited to announce that Richard
Hatfield will be joining us as Vice President of
Development. Rich comes to us with an extensive
background in fundraising for organizations
working in Central America. He will be an invaluable
asset to us as we look to improve the services we
provide to the children in our programs as well as
increase the number of children we serve. Rich can
be reached via email at hatfieldr@fabretto.org.
Please feel free to contact me at any time at
garciaa@fabretto.org. I wish you a wonderful
Holiday Season and much prosperity in 2006.
Alexandra S. Garcia
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