|
Greetings!
Once again, there's so much going on at Fabretto,
it's hard to know what to include in this installment
of Fabretto e-news! We just finished our spring
event season, with a fabulous Night for Niņos in New
York in April. But already, we are looking to summer
with a 5K fun run in Seattle, Washington and a
theater performance in Shepherdstown, West
Virginia. Meanwhile, in
Nicaragua, our programs continue to expand as we
strive to offer practical skills training to our
secondary school students. There's information here
on all of this and more, so please, read on...
| Program Highlight ? Learning by Doing |
 |
|
In March 2005, Fabretto partnered with Zamorano
University in Honduras to implement the Learning by
Doing Curriculum for students aged 14 to 20. In this
program, students actively participate in activities
focused on developing agricultural micro-projects.
As the vast majority of our students come from rural
and semi-rural communities, this hands-on program is
of direct benefit to their lives today and will help
them in the future to access employment
opportunities, both in agricultural and non-
agricultural fields. As they learn team building skills,
entrepreneurship, and new farming techniques, the
students are also strengthening their core academic
skills in reading and math through the study of
course materials and the application of methods
described therein.
Examples of current Learning by Doing micro-projects
at different centers include:
?
Somoto ?
students
started a small farming plot for vegetables and fruits,
the yield of which was used to supplement offerings
in the center?s lunch program. Another group is
training in rural/eco-tourism, as this is a potential
area for expansion with the recent opening of the
Gran Caņon of Somoto in 2005 which is attracting
new visitors to the area.
? Quebrada
Honda ? a
fruit production project is making jams and spreads
which are being sold in Somoto. The students are
also studying beekeeping, with 8 hives in production.
Consumption is mostly local to the village, but
eventually with more hives, production will allow for
small scale commercial sale opportunities.
?
Cusmapa ? students are growing organic
produce for
sale in the village and to help the center?s lunch
program.
As the students work on projects, they are acquiring
valuable life skills, practicing good work habits, and
gaining proficiency in collaborative work and project
management. Other areas of study include water
irrigation, electronic commerce, and the production
of organic fertilizer. Learning by Doing is an exciting
new program for Fabretto and its students. With
time, we hope to be able to support greater numbers
of project learning areas for the benefit of our
centers,
our students, and their families.
|
| Seattle Fun Run & Shepherdstown Theater Show |
|
|
On July 16, our Seattle Committee is doing
something
new ? a 5K run around Golden Gardens Park
which
will end up at the beach overlooking Puget Sound.
There, runners and non-runners alike (you don?t even
have to run to participate!) will find a Bar-B-Q,
volleyball tournament, and a silent auction. The $25
cost will cover lunch and a drink ? whether you run
or not! So come and do something fun with us in the
Emerald City. And please let your Seattle
friends know about this event by forwarding this
newsletter. It would be a great way for you to
introduce them to Fabretto in a very relaxed
environment!
On July 28, a showing of the play Mr.
Marmalade at
the Contemporary American Theater Festival
in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia will be held in honor of
the
Fabretto Children's Foundation. The play, by
newcomer playwright Noah Haidle, is about a four
year girl who creates a surprisingly sophisticated
fantasy land with her imaginary friend, Mr.
Marmalade. It is a grown-up play about playing
grown-up that the New Yorker calls "exhilirating".
|
| Donor Trip ? February 2007 |
|
|
Have you been thinking about visiting Nicaragua?
Would you like to see in person what Fabretto does?
Meet the children? Visit the centers? Well ? here is
your chance! Fabretto will be hosting its annual
Donor Trip from Saturday, February 9 through
Wednesday, February 14, 2007. The trip will be
hosted by Fabretto?s senior staff, including Kevin
Marinacci and Peter Schaller.
A brief summary of the trip itinerary is:
- 2/09 - Arrival, Welcome Dinner and Orientation,
Overnight in Managua
- 2/10 - Tour of Managua Central Office, Visit to
San Isidro Children's Center, Overnight in
Managua
- 2/11 - Visit to Somoto Children?s Center,
Overnight in Cusmapa
- 2/12 - Visit to Cusmapa Children?s Center & Rural
Schools, Overnight in Cusmapa
- 2/13 - Visit to Quebrada Honda & Esteli Children?s
Centers, Overnight in Esteli
- 2/14 - Return to Managua for early afternoon
departures
Alternate departure dates can be arranged for an
extended tourism stay or earlier departure if
necessary. Our staff in Nicaragua will be happy to
help you make your plans. We hope you?ll consider
this great opportunity to see and visit Nicaragua and
Fabretto in action. To find out more, please get in
touch with us via email or phone at the contact
information at the bottom of the page.
|
| A Gift of Securities |
|
|
A gift of stocks or bonds is a great way to help
Fabretto meet its current operating and long term
needs. The Fabretto Children?s Foundation
investment portfolio is held at Oppenheimer &
Company. Your gift of securities can be directed
towards one of two accounts Fabretto holds there.
The first is our Long Term Fund Account which
provides income from dividends and interest for
general operations. It also provides a reserve
balance so that we can take advantage of ?special
opportunities? for investments in programs or physical
plant facilities that are not covered in our annual
budget.
For example, by special approval of the Board in
2005, the Long Term Fund Account provided $50,000
to purchase a piece of land adjacent to our Esteli
Children?s Center which unexpectedly came on the
market. Today, thanks to a grant from the Japanese
Embassy in Nicaragua, we are in the process of
building a
new classroom building on this site which will open
for the 2007 school year and will allow us to add
more than 60 new students, as well as a new library
and computer center. Without the reserves in the
Long Term Fund Account, we would have lost the
opportunity to buy this land and expand our services
in Esteli.
Fabretto?s second account is our
Scholarship Endowment Fund. The capital in this
fund remains untouched while the income generated
from dividends and interest is used to support our
university and vocational studies scholarship
students. You can make your contribution to the
general scholarship pool, or for gifts of $35,000 or
more, you can endow a named scholarship and
sponsor a student through their university career,
and others over time. In return, you will receive
updates and correspondence from the sponsored
student. Please contact us about any gift you wish
to make.
|
|
Happy Surprises |
|
|
|
It is sometimes a little overwhelming to feel
financially responsible, so to speak, for over 4,200
children. After all, the job of the Fabretto Children?s
Foundation in the United States is to make sure that
monies and resources are available for our staff in
Nicaragua to do all the amazing things they do.
Needless to say, that sometimes causes me just a
little bit of stress!
Yet, it seems that whenever I get to the point of
thinking, ?How are we going to do this??, I receive a
surprise email or a phone call out of the blue
from a Fabretto friend willing to do something
wonderful to help us.
For example in March, a few weeks before our Miami
event, I got a call from a board member of the South
Florida Youth Symphony who is Nicaraguan. He
asked if we would be interested in having a quartet
of young musicians play at the Miami Night for Niņos.
I readily agreed and they were wonderful. Even
better though, it turns out that the entire SFYS
orchestra is playing at the Ruben Dario Theater in
Managua next Wednesday, the 31st of May. With an
impromptu plea for support at the Miami event, and
with the generous contribution of a number of
individuals, we will be sending 200 students and staff
chaperones to the concert. It?s an incredible
opportunity for our students -most of whom have
never stepped foot in a concert hall before- to see
young,
accomplished musicians perform. I promise that we?ll
be highlighting that evening and the events leading
up to it in our next newsletter.
In another surprise instance, two weeks ago, I
got an email from a ?friend of a friend? asking what
he could do to help in the Los Angeles area. As we
don?t host an official event there, (yet!), I suggested
that maybe he could host a House Party for Fabretto
to raise awareness of the organization amongst his
friends or co-workers. He agreed and is now looking
into the planning of it, which is great because our
supporters are the best marketing asset
we have. Let?s face it, many people have a
hard time finding Nicaragua on map and it is not
much
in the news these days, so getting
people to listen about what we do is sometimes very
difficult. However, when one of you is willing
to make a personal recommendation to your
acquaintances, it carries a lot of weight.
And finally, though this is certainly not the last
example of my happy surprises, just a few days ago I
received an email from one of our supporters in the
DC area who is actively involved with the
Contemporary American Theater Festival in
Shepherdstown,
West Virginia. He has offered to sponsor a showing
of Mr. Marmalade, a new play, on July 28th in
Fabretto?s name. We will have to opportunity to talk
about Fabretto before the show, and have some
display materials out in the lobby. It will be a great
chance for us to talk about what we
do and reach new people, and for this we are very
thankful.
(There is more about this in the events highlight
section on the left.)
All of this is to say that there are so many ways in
which you can help us help the children of
Nicaragua. I encourage you to consider about how
you can blend your interests in other activities and
personal contacts with your love of Fabretto. For
example, you might know a journalist who could write
an article about us. Perhaps you can combine a
work or family function with an effort to help get the
word out. Maybe you can use an event at your
church as a way to help us raise support for our
programs. The options are endless, so please
think about it. I?m looking forward to getting some
more happy surprise calls and emails ? you?ll make my
day!
With my very best regards and deepest thanks-
Alexandra S.
Garcia
President
To find out about more ways to help...
|
|
