What a year it was for TGVP. 2011 marked our first full year in existence and we had a little bit of fun along the way:
501(c)3 Certified – Odd that we mention “fun” and start with the most mundane of TGVP’s 2011 events… One of the biggest hurdles we faced this year was getting 501(c)3 certified. This certifies TGVP as an American tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation or association. We were always designed under these pretenses, but the certification process was a big paperwork undertaking. In hindsight, it was not as daunting as I (Jeff) may have made it out to be, but it did end up resulting in a small book of forms and documents on TGVP and our purposes. Thanks to all on our Board for answering some questions that helped us pull some of this information together!
TGVP meets Bluefields– Bluefields is a small outpost on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. For Shea and me, it represented all the emotions of our 4 weeks in Nicaragua wrapped up into 4 days. We had our darkest and brightest moments in Bluefields, but most importantly, we were warmly accepted into the Loma Fresca Vineyard community in Bluefields and will have friends for life. TGVP will continue to grow our relationship with this community and hope to make further progress on constructing the Loma Fresca Vineyard School building in 2012!
La Esperanza Granada – “La Esperanza” translates to “the hope” in English and this is fitting for this organization that is doing wonderful things in and around Granada, Nicaragua. TGVP was able to partner with La Esperanza on the following projects in 2011:
-Sponsored a Student Teacher for La Esperanza’s network of schools
-Sponsored a student entering secondary school
-Provided funds for new computers
-Provided school supplies
-Set up a Skype Exchange and Sister School Program with Pierremont Elementary in St. Louis and Elba Zamora Escuela outside of Granada
We also had the opportunity to visit the schools, and we were quite sore after a soccer match with the La Esperanza workers and volunteers in Granada.
Nica Impact– The gentlemen in the back of this picture exemplifies Nica Impact for us. This young man name Marcos was our ambassador to his barrio when we went with Doug and Julie (of Nica Impact) to deliver food to his community. Marcos introduced us to his friends, helped with our Spanish, played games with us and even defended one of us from a bee that was sure to kill if it got much closer. Marcos let us be a kid with him that day. He showed us that we were all in this world together and whether it be hunger, poverty or bees we all need to pitch in to help each other out. Thanks Marcos!
La Vina Managua and Tipitapa– La Vina was one of the original groups we contacted in Nicaragua. They trusted we had good intentions and we trusted they had good intention. This mutual trust led to a fund raising effort that resulted in more than 70 backpacks and school supplies for the children of these communities and a visit to their community that we will never forget!
Supporters – We just cannot thank everybody enough that supported TGVP in 2011. Whether it was through donation, sponsorships, participation in our trivia nights or KNO, prayer or simply interest in what TGVP is doing it made everything possible and kept us going. Through this support TGVP was able to start to make some inroads to improving education in parts of Nicaragua. We also have been working to support the local St. Louis community through donations to the Pattonville School District after the storms that destroyed homes in this community and through education to students who are interested to learn more about Nicaragua and philanthropy.
We will never forget 2011 at TGVP, as it marked our first full year in existence and gave us a great foundation to build upon. Have a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to seeing you at Trivia in 2012!
The Global Village Project 