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Greetings!
This is an exciting time for Dove Missions! We have a qualified and dedicated board and a growing family of sponsors who are committed to manifesting our dream of creating a Vocational and Recreation Center to serve the at-risk youth in Puerto Plata. We have identified the location for our center, hired a director, enrolled students and designed our initial curriculum. These are big accomplishments, and there is more ahead! I just want to thank all of you for your prayers and ongoing support. See the articles in this newsletter to find out more.
Sincerely,
Lisa Mastain, PhD
Executive Director, Dove Missions
Coachlisa@mchsi.com
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5834 East Beck Lane
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
www.dovemissions.com
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We strive to bring hope to the widowed and orphans, joy to the handicapped and the homeless children, nourishment to the hungry, education to the uneducated, medical assistance to the ill, refuge to the abandoned and abused, and love to the lost and lonely.
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The Healing Power of Art!
 At first glance they all seem like very similar children. Their smiles are the same, their giggles alike, and certainly contagious. They wear the same tattered clothes, and the same muddy shoes. Their fingernails are hard to keep clean, and their uneasiness is apparent. It's hard to believe they have already been through more in the 10 or so years of their lives than any of us as adults, will ever be able to imagine.
We don't really realize how different they are until we see the expression in their art. It is all very diverse. Each has their own style, their own way of putting it all down on paper. We watch as they paint, with hope that in some small way, we can help them to let go, assist them in releasing the negativity life has unjustly forced them to accumulate.
This month the art course has come to an end. The boy's club is moving on to a new location, a bigger space where all 24 boys will be able to join in the next session of art classes. We have a new volunteer who has offered to teach the class. Our new location will be ready in July, but until then we will schedule art field trips for painting class. The cable car ride, Christopher Columbus's fort, and the Amber Museum, just to mention a few.
We continue to hope that the reds and yellows will eventually replace the greys and blacks, as we help the new good memories replace the old bad ones.
Cathy Flynn
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Dove's New Boys Club: A Safe Place to Change
Lives.
Liz and I held a meeting this month with all the boy's club members and their moms. It was to explain the new location of the Boy's Club, set some new guidelines, and share some love. In the meeting Liz announced I would be taking on the role of Director of the Boy's club. I instantly flashed back to my dad, my gentle giant.
Dad ran a recreation center in the East end of Toronto for 40 years. Our 'center' as we called it was all we needed. We spent hours at tap, baton, arts and crafts classes. There was wood workshop for the boys, not to mention the hours of floor hockey, baseball and basketball. Our recitals were a special event for us, after practicing for hours on end. It was our place, our getaway.
My dad had a gentle soul, but ran the center as a no nonsense type of guy. He was a good listener and very patient, but didn't think twice about sending you to the 'fresh air club' for a day if you weren't behaving, and only allowed you to return, if you came back with your mom. He was strict, but to him discipline meant love.
Flash forward 20 years when I lost my dad after a battle with Cancer. There were 300 people at my dad's funeral, mostly those grown up teenage boys. Through my numb tears I remember many saying; "I loved your dad, your dad saved my life, if it wasn't for him I'd be in jail." Or "God knows where I'd be right now if it weren't for your dad." I realized then how much he had done for those kids, and his community, how much he had given all those years. If I can accomplish even half of what my dad did, I will be grateful.
 A few weeks ago, Liz and I met a few times to discuss her Boy's club, she went off to Haiti, and when I got home that night, a photo of my dad, that has been firmly planted on my wall here for the last 16 years, had fallen to the floor. I picked it up, hugged it, and laughed.
Is this boy's club meant to be you ask? Oh yes, I say, ironically to me it seems like maybe some of my dad's work has been left undone.
I promise you all I will do my best to make 'your center' very successful.
Sincerely,
Cathy Flynn
Dove Missions Vocational and Recreation Center Program Director
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You've Won the Lottery!
 Every now and then when I drive past one of those Minnesota Lottery Billboards that flash the current lotto total of say 60 Million dollars, I like to fantasize about what I would do with all that money. The first thing I think about is taxes - there goes 20 Million... Then I take the remaining 40 million and imagine all the good things I could do with that kind of money. I would set up a non-profit foundation to help the kids in the Dominican Republic and other suffering people all over the world.
I would give some of the money to my family and friends, and then whatever was left I would purchase some things for myself. I'll be honest with you - I have a lot of fun thinking about who and what programs I would give this money to, but when I get to thinking about purchasing more stuff for myself, my energy drops. The fact is, there is nothing that I need right now in my life, and only a few things I want. Like you, I live in America - the land of plenty.
 If you are reading this on your computer, you already have 100 times more prosperity than most of the world's population. The people we work with in Puerto Plata can't even imagine owning a computer - they are busy trying to feed themselves and their kids. Where here in America, I can easily lose or misplace a handful of change a day - money that goes through the wash in someone's jeans, change that falls down between the seats of the car, or gets dumped in the junk drawer - and never even miss it. When in Agua Negro, one dollar will pay for enough rice and beans to feed an entire family for a few days. That same lost or misplaced $360 per year can transform the lives of impoverished children, providing them with good nutrition, a vocational education and hope for a fulfilling future.
The truth of the matter is that you and I have already won the lottery! We live in the United States, where material and financial abundance is the norm not the exception. Even in these hard times, most of us are not going hungry - we are not worrying about whether our kids are going to die of malnutrition or some other disease we can't afford to treat. We are blessed with an abundance we sometimes take for granted.
 I am going to ask you to pause a moment in your day, and look around you at all the good you have in your life: a safe place to live, a roof over your head that doesn't leak, caring and supportive relationships, a warm comfortable bed, a bath tub and shower, food in your pantry and access to good health care. Is it possible that you might even have more than enough? If you won the lottery today, what would you do with that money? Would you give some of it to help those less fortunate than you? If you said, yes! Then I challenge you to give some of your lotto winnings to Dove Missions and the kids we are working with: Richard, Tati, Domingo, Franciel, Jose Manuel, Junior, Tati, Yordin and others along with their brothers and sisters. Some of you know these kids personally. They are absolutely amazing, open hearted, positive, eager young boys who trust us and are counting on us to fulfill our commitment to them.
We have found a wonderful new space to run our Boys Club and Vocational Boys School, and we only need $15,000 to get this program up and running! We don't need 20 Million dollars to change the world for these kids. We just need your help. Together we can make this dream happen for these children and their families! Truly, after raising my kids, participating in this project as a Dove Missions sponsor is for me one of the most important things I will ever do. Because of this realization, I am embracing the fact that I have already won the lottery and I am offering a $5,000 matching grant to help raise funds for Dove's Boys Club and Vocational Program.
 So, what that means is that every dollar you donate until we meet the $5000 mark will be doubled! Don't think for a moment that your donation won't matter - because it does! I can't do this on my own - Liz can't do this on her own - it takes a community to raise a child (and in this case to raise a great number of children). We only have a 500 person mailing list, and only about 100 of you will open this mailing, and maybe only 20 of you (but hopefully all of you) will donate. Every one of your donations matter! I encourage you to take this opportunity to stretch - to give more than you normally do - to dig deep into your abundance and share some of it with people who need it so desperately - and who will be truly, eternally grateful for your help. Think about donating that extra $360 in lost change (which will turn into $720 for the boys!) or maybe you can stretch and give $500 (which will immediately turn into $1000!), and for some of you, maybe you've been thinking about doing something really big - making a difference in a profound and personal way - maybe you could give $1000, $2000 or even more?
Whatever you decide is wonderful! Please click on the donate button below,
or send your donation to:
Dove Missions - Lottery Matching Grant
c/o Caroline Santora, Dove Missions Treasurer
5834 East Beck Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
I will personally mail you a thank you card and share with you the total we raised together! Let's break the $10,000 mark!
In love and gratitude,
Lisa Mastain, PhD
Executive Director, Dove Missions
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