Fund Stoves & Meds for Guatemala!
Tax deductible
What’s Our Project?
Our names are Pete and Betsy, and in March 2018, we will be leading a fifteen-member team to Guatemala’s Boca Costa region. Our host is the Boca Costa Medical Mission (BCMM), which provides medical care in the Guatemalan departments of Sololá and Suchitepéquez. Most of our team members will be building cinder-block stoves for families in rural villages. Some of our team members will be working in medical clinics.
Who Are We?
Pete is a family-practice physician, and Betsy is a psychiatric nurse practitioner. We have organized annual one-week volunteer medical and construction trips to Guatemala for seven years.
We are very excited that so many of our friends, from around the U.S., will be joining us in March 2018!
Why Do We Need to Raise Funds?
BCMM requires volunteer teams to provide funds to buy
· Materials to build cinder-block stoves for local families, and
· Medications used during the weeklong medical mission.
Most of the medications and all of the construction materials are bought in Guatemala, thus providing income to local businesses.
A word about the stoves: Most families in this part of Guatemala cook over open fires in their homes. This custom leads to respiratory illnesses such as asthma, eye irritation, and burns when children tumble into the open fires. Since cinder-block stoves have been used, these problems have decreased—and the health of the community has improved. Also, the stoves are much more efficient than open fires. The stoves use far less firewood, so families can cook with less fuel and spend less time collecting it.
Why Is This Trip Important to Us?
We feel called by God to serve God’s people. God calls all people to serve their neighbors in need. We have been given talents and resources that allow us to share freely that which has been given to us. We chose this area because the indigenous people of Guatemala (the Maya) are resilient, cheerful, grateful, and a joy to work with.
We feel very strongly that individual humanitarian action, motivated by spiritual principles, can do much good in both domestic and international arenas.
What Does Your Donation Cover?
We are ONLY raising funds to cover the costs of construction materials and medicines to be distributed to Guatemalan villagers during our trip. (We are paying all of our personal travel, lodging, and food expenses ourselves.) All of the funds you donate will go to directly to the costs of stove-building materials, medicines, and vitamins.
What’s Our Budget?
Here is our budget, which defines our campaign’s fundraising goal:
Stove materials ($150 per stove x 75 stoves): $11,250
Vitamins: $500
Medicines: $3,000
Translators: $600
Fees (wire-transfer and payment-processing fees): $1,360
Total funds to be raised: $16,710
What Can You Do?
Please donate whatever amount you can afford to help us pay for construction materials, medicines, and vitamins. We suggest you consider donating the cost of one stove ($150) as a gift to yourself, a family member, or friend!
The deadline for submitting our funds to BCMM is January 30, 2018.
We use a Certified Charity (our former church) as a clearinghouse for your donation. First, your donation goes to GoFundMe’s charitable funding partner, PayPal Giving Fund. PayPal Giving Fund then sends the money to our former church, St. John’s and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, in Canajoharie, New York. Finally, the church forwards 100% of your donation BCMM to cover our team’s financial commitment to the mission. Your donation will be well traveled by the time it reaches its destination!
You will receive a receipt for your tax-deductible contribution directly from PayPal Giving Fund, which processes the contributions you make.
Want To Do More?
You can help our campaign by sharing our link on your Facebook Timeline, and by telling your friends and family about our efforts.
Consider making a direct donation to BCMM’s ongoing operations by visiting the BCMM website: http://bocacostamm.org/index.htm. Direct donations will not support the goals of our team’s March 2018 trip, but will help with other BCMM activities, such as purchasing infant formula and arranging for dental care.
Thank you for your generosity and support! You are now a part of a vital international humanitarian effort!
Our names are Pete and Betsy, and in March 2018, we will be leading a fifteen-member team to Guatemala’s Boca Costa region. Our host is the Boca Costa Medical Mission (BCMM), which provides medical care in the Guatemalan departments of Sololá and Suchitepéquez. Most of our team members will be building cinder-block stoves for families in rural villages. Some of our team members will be working in medical clinics.
Who Are We?
Pete is a family-practice physician, and Betsy is a psychiatric nurse practitioner. We have organized annual one-week volunteer medical and construction trips to Guatemala for seven years.
We are very excited that so many of our friends, from around the U.S., will be joining us in March 2018!
Why Do We Need to Raise Funds?
BCMM requires volunteer teams to provide funds to buy
· Materials to build cinder-block stoves for local families, and
· Medications used during the weeklong medical mission.
Most of the medications and all of the construction materials are bought in Guatemala, thus providing income to local businesses.
A word about the stoves: Most families in this part of Guatemala cook over open fires in their homes. This custom leads to respiratory illnesses such as asthma, eye irritation, and burns when children tumble into the open fires. Since cinder-block stoves have been used, these problems have decreased—and the health of the community has improved. Also, the stoves are much more efficient than open fires. The stoves use far less firewood, so families can cook with less fuel and spend less time collecting it.
Why Is This Trip Important to Us?
We feel called by God to serve God’s people. God calls all people to serve their neighbors in need. We have been given talents and resources that allow us to share freely that which has been given to us. We chose this area because the indigenous people of Guatemala (the Maya) are resilient, cheerful, grateful, and a joy to work with.
We feel very strongly that individual humanitarian action, motivated by spiritual principles, can do much good in both domestic and international arenas.
What Does Your Donation Cover?
We are ONLY raising funds to cover the costs of construction materials and medicines to be distributed to Guatemalan villagers during our trip. (We are paying all of our personal travel, lodging, and food expenses ourselves.) All of the funds you donate will go to directly to the costs of stove-building materials, medicines, and vitamins.
What’s Our Budget?
Here is our budget, which defines our campaign’s fundraising goal:
Stove materials ($150 per stove x 75 stoves): $11,250
Vitamins: $500
Medicines: $3,000
Translators: $600
Fees (wire-transfer and payment-processing fees): $1,360
Total funds to be raised: $16,710
What Can You Do?
Please donate whatever amount you can afford to help us pay for construction materials, medicines, and vitamins. We suggest you consider donating the cost of one stove ($150) as a gift to yourself, a family member, or friend!
The deadline for submitting our funds to BCMM is January 30, 2018.
We use a Certified Charity (our former church) as a clearinghouse for your donation. First, your donation goes to GoFundMe’s charitable funding partner, PayPal Giving Fund. PayPal Giving Fund then sends the money to our former church, St. John’s and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, in Canajoharie, New York. Finally, the church forwards 100% of your donation BCMM to cover our team’s financial commitment to the mission. Your donation will be well traveled by the time it reaches its destination!
You will receive a receipt for your tax-deductible contribution directly from PayPal Giving Fund, which processes the contributions you make.
Want To Do More?
You can help our campaign by sharing our link on your Facebook Timeline, and by telling your friends and family about our efforts.
Consider making a direct donation to BCMM’s ongoing operations by visiting the BCMM website: http://bocacostamm.org/index.htm. Direct donations will not support the goals of our team’s March 2018 trip, but will help with other BCMM activities, such as purchasing infant formula and arranging for dental care.
Thank you for your generosity and support! You are now a part of a vital international humanitarian effort!
Organizer
Kevin Ahern
Organizer
Campbell, CA
St Johns & St Marks Lutheran Church
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
