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Greetings!
The new year is off to a great start at Fabretto.
The transition of the management team has gone
very smoothly, consolidation of operations in the DC
metro area is well underway, and we are all working
very hard to meet our goals for 2006. We have made
a tremendous commitment to
Kevin Marinacci and the staff in Nicaragua for
increased support to implement
new education initiatives such as the IT program
described below. We hope you enjoy learning about
it and everything else in this issue of e-news.
| Expansion of our IT Program is Under Way |
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Fabretto has been offering introductory level
computer courses in its centers for the last five
years. These courses are extremely popular with our
students, whose general interest in computers is
channeled in a way that develops them into
attractive employees with highly marketable skills to
Nicaragua?s growing technical sector. However, as
more computers are introduced into the country,
there is a growing and unmet need for employees
training in higher level skills such as networks
management, server repair and maintenance, and full
scale IT support.
As part of Fabretto?s vision and mission, we are
incorporating an advanced computer literacy and IT
education curriculum in order to improve the quality
of basic education, create better academic and
employment opportunities for our students and bring
about progress in many disadvantaged communities
of Nicaragua. When fully implemented by the end of
this year, course offerings will include:
? Network design (using CISCO?s CCNA
curriculum)
? Server administration (Windows 2000 and
2003 server)
? Computer repair and maintenance
? Web design
? Computer based accounting
? Programming skills (Visual Basic / Visual
Studio based, C#, .NET)
? Database design and administration (MS
Access, MS SQL Server 2000)
This will be an exciting program for our students.
Please consider lending your support to this latest
expansion of our curriculum.
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| Get Ready for our Miami & New York Events |
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MIAMI
Friday, March 31 at Nikki Beach
Come
to this fun event with cocktails, dancing, and a silent
auction in the heart of South Beach. It's
going to be hot! hot! hot! -
NEW YORK
CITY
Saturday, April 22 at Nikki Midtown and the
W
This event promises to be our most
glamorous yet! We will be honoring Jack & Lucia
Penrod -long time supporters of Fabretto and
founders of Nikki Beach in Miami, exclusive clubs
around the world, Nikki Style Magazine and more.
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| Fabretto Earns the ICA Seal of Excellence |
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The Independent Charities of America regularly
reviews its member charities and recognizes a select
few with its Best in America seal. As described on
ICA's website "The Independent Charities Seal of
Excellence is awarded to the members of
Independent Charities of America and Local
Independent Charities of America that have, upon
rigorous independent review, been able to certify,
document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that
they meet the highest standards of public
accountability, program effectiveness, and cost
effectiveness. These standards include those
required by the US Government for inclusion in the
Combined Federal Campaign, probably the most
exclusive fund drive in the world. Of the 1,000,000
charities operating in the United States today, it is
estimated that fewer than 50,000, or 5 percent,
meet or exceed these standards, and, of those,
fewer than 2,000 have been awarded this Seal."
As you can tell, this is a great accomplishment for a
relatively small organization such as ours and we are
thrilled to be able to display the Best in America Seal
on our website and other literature. So, if you ever
had any doubt that your contributions are being well
spent, rest assured. We are indeed doing all we can
to manage our funds in ways that will provide the
greatest return for the children in our programs.
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| Planned Giving - A Great Way to Help |
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Planned gifts are an integral component of any well
thought out estate plan. They are a great way for
you to help Fabretto in the future, while keeping your
financial assets working for you today. Planned Gifts
come in many different forms and can be made with
cash, real estate, stocks, bonds, personal property
or life insurance. Planned gifts can provide
additional income for you, will reduce your
income and estate taxes, and will relieve you and
your heirs
of complicated financial management responsibilities.
But best of all, a planned gift will help you fulfill your
personal, humanitarian and
charitable objectives so that you can have a positive
impact on the lives of many, many deserving
Nicaraguan children for years to come.
Please feel free to contact Rich Hatfield at
hatfieldr@fabretto.org any time to discuss the
planned giving option that would work best for you.
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New Website is Up! |
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One of my main responsibilities as President of the
Fabretto Children?s Foundation is to make sure that
we have strong advocacy network that effectively
spreads the message about what we do for the
children of Nicaragua. As an organization, we
accomplish this in many ways ? with our Night for
Niņos Events around the country, with deliberate and
sustained contact with our donors, with regular
updates on our work through mailers and this e-
newsletter, and of course, through our website. I
feel very strongly that an organization?s presence on
the web should accurately reflect its mission, work,
and overall culture. So I am delighted to announce
that we have been working diligently over the last
few months to update our website ? and it?s up,
ready for you to visit!
The new site has a streamlined look, is easier to
navigate, and offers a wealth of information not
available before. For example, we?ve added a
Volunteers section which gives potential volunteers
much needed information on what they can do to
help us both in the US and in Nicaragua. The section
called Our Work now includes a much more
comprehensive overview of all the different programs
and services we offer to the children and their
families. And my favorite new feature, changing
pictures in the left sidebar of each page, allows you
to see the beautiful faces of some of the
children in our programs - they are wonderful
reminders of the real meaning and goals of our work.
I hope you will take the time to go through our new
site and read and learn about all the great things
that Kevin Marinacci and his staff are doing in
Nicaragua. And, if it encourages you to make an
online donation ? even better! After you review
the site, please feel free to contact me with any
comments, suggestions, and reviews. We will
continue to update it on a regular basis and I would
be happy to include new features that are of interest
to you, our supporters and friends. Indeed, we hope
soon to include a ?Shop Fabretto? section where
visitors will be able to purchase pine baskets, items
from our carpentry program and other assorted
crafts and gifts. Look for this is a couple of months.
Finally, I?d like to take this opportunity to
thank the staff at Photonics Graphics, out of
Cincinnati, Ohio, for the tremendous work, advice,
and hours they put into this project. Christy Brown
of Photonics has been to Nicaragua as a volunteer at
our center in Cusmapa. She and her husband Alan
are committed Fabretto supporters and offered much
of their firm?s services in this endeavor pro-bono and
at reduced rates. It would not have been possible
without them.
So thank you to
them, and to all of you for your continued support -
Alexandra S. Garcia
President
To visit the website...
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