80 + 1 Happy Kids: School Year 2024-2025
It’s now early September 2024, and schools in the Dominican Republic started on August 26. The summer months were challenging, with high temperatures, intense humidity, and a busy store. Despite these obstacles, we are incredibly proud of ourselves and even prouder of all our sponsors. Thanks to your support, we were able to provide 80 children with a complete school uniform (trousers, polo shirts, leather shoes, belt), sports uniform (track pants, T-shirt, sneakers), underwear, socks, backpack, notebooks, pens, pencils, sharpener, ruler, glue, crayons, and colored pencils/markers.
Additionally, one of “our” children was awarded a scholarship to attend a private school in Puerto Plata. Alejandro is now 12 years old and started his first year of high school on August 26. We’ll share more about his journey in an upcoming blog.
April 2024: The Preparations Begin
In April, we sent the first sponsor letters to our regular donors. We received positive responses immediately, marking the start of the 2024-2025 school year project.
May 1, 2024: An Inspiring Presentation
On May 1, I was invited to give a presentation about the Domino Foundation at the Rotary Club Elsloo-Maaskant. It was a wonderful evening filled with interesting people and engaging conversations. A few weeks later, we received a generous donation of €500. In the meantime, the first donations from our regular sponsors started coming in as well.
June 15, 2024: Support from Aktie voor Aktie
On June 15, I traveled to Utrecht to give another presentation, this time at Aktie voor Aktie, a foundation that supports various charitable causes. The presentation and discussions led to an incredible donation of €1500, providing a huge boost to our efforts.
At the same time, we ramped up our social media activity to spread the word. Last year, we helped 72 children, and we aimed even higher this year.
July 2024: New Uniforms, New Challenges
By July 2024, I was in Puerto Plata, and there was a change in the school uniform. Last year, it was khaki pants and a yellow polo shirt, but this year, the uniform is light blue polo shirts and dark blue trousers. This meant that all children needed entirely new uniforms, with nothing to be passed down from older siblings or neighbors.
On July 14, we received confirmation from Tienda Jimenez, where we purchase all school supplies, that everything was in stock. The first group of children was scheduled to come in on July 17. Each child, accompanied by a parent or guardian, was personally fitted for their clothing and shoes to ensure they received the correct sizes. They could also pick out their own backpacks and notebooks. Over the next two weeks, we made several more trips to the store. By early August, we had run out of donation funds, but we still had a few children on our list that we really wanted to help. A quick Facebook appeal helped us raise the funds to assist these final children.
Gratitude for 81 Happy Children
Thanks to the generosity of many, we were able to complete the project with 81 happy children. After countless thank-yous and hugs, the children left the store with shining eyes and huge smiles, knowing they were ready for the school year ahead. The exhaustion, back pain, and headaches we felt after those busy days were completely worth it to see the joy on their faces. During one of those trips we did a videoshoot with Winifer for a promo.
A Short Summary of the Shopping Trip
Upon arrival, each child was checked to see if they were on the list. (It’s not uncommon for children to show up before their scheduled time or for kids not on the list to try and get a uniform. As much as we’d love to help every child, we have limited resources and must make tough decisions.)
Once confirmed, the fun began! The children were allowed to pick their own notebooks—some chose pink Barbie designs, while others opted for cool cars or basketball heroes. Next, we were assisted by a staff member from Tienda Jimenez. In small groups, they selected and tried on socks, underwear, belts, sports shirts, polo shirts, trousers, and track pants.
After clothing, we moved to the shoe department, where the children picked out and tried on leather shoes and sneakers. Once everyone had two pairs of shoes, we moved on to the final stage—choosing a backpack and the rest of their school supplies. This often took the longest, as there were so many options to choose from.
Once a group was ready, a special checkout counter was opened where each child’s items were processed one by one. Afterward, we took a picture for our own records, to send to sponsors, and a group photo for social media.