<div>Dear Friends, Family, Supporters and Readers,
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<div>I hope this message finds you well. My name is Teofilo Colon Jr (a.k.a "Tio Teo"), and I’m reaching out with a call to help support a Website that has been around since 2010: <a href="https://beinggarifuna.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Being Garifuna</a> , which in itself was an extension of Cultural Preservation Work that I have been doing since 2009.
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<div>My efforts to document and chronicle the Garifuna ethnic group have been covered by The <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2011/11/14/being-garifuna-blogger-teofilo-colon-fans-flames-of-his-peoples-pride-online/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Daily News</a> , <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2016/07/15/group-in-nyc-aims-to-pass-on-garifuna-language" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NY1</a> , The <a href="https://beinggarifuna.com/?page_id=33" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Caribbean Life Newspaper</a> and More.
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<div>The Being Garifuna Blog is more than just a digital space—it’s a celebration, a preservation, and a sharing of the rich culture, history, and resilience of the Garifuna people.
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<div>The Garifuna community, with roots tracing back to the Caribbean and Central America, embodies a unique cultural blend of African, Indigenous, and European (Latin) influences.
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<div>Our language, music, dance, and traditions are vibrant threads in the tapestry of humanity. Yet, too often, our stories remain untold, our voices unheard. Over the years, <a href="https://beinggarifuna.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Being Garifuna</a> has helped change that by being a platform to educate, inspire, and connect people worldwide to this incredible heritage. Simply writing news stories have helped on that front.
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<div>Continuing to run and grow a website like this takes resources—web hosting, design updates, content creation, and outreach efforts all come with costs. That’s where you come in.
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<div>Over the years, people have asked about donating to the website. I used to have a Paypal Link that people could donate to, but in the Fall of 2020, my website was deleted.
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<div>Hundreds of articles disappeared. Gone forever, I thought. I have been using the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive to retrieve past articles so that I could republish them. However, that takes time and it's taking longer than I expected.
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<div>Spurred on by a Fundraising effort by Media Colleague, Mr. Ed Garcia Conde of the Welcome 2 The Bronx blog, I’m launching this GoFundMe campaign to raise $3,500 to keep Being Garifuna thriving and expanding. Your support will help us:
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<div>Maintain and continue the work that The Being Garifuna Blog and website has been doing with expanding the Digital Footprint of the Garifuna ethnic group.
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<div>Create new content, including articles, videos, and interviews with Garifuna voices.
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<div>Promote the site via advertising to reach broader audiences and foster cultural awareness.
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<div>Preserve oral histories and traditions through digital archiving.
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<div>Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to ensuring that Garifuna culture is celebrated and preserved for generations to come. If you can’t donate, sharing this campaign with your network is just as powerful—your voice can help amplify ours.
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<div>Together, we can build a bridge between the past, present, and future of the Garifuna people. Thank you for believing in this vision and for standing with us. Let’s keep the drumbeats alive, the stories flowing, and the spirit of Being Garifuna strong.
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Renee Hernandez

Gina Noralez

Fanny Melnikow

Ilbert Sanchez

Janel Martinez

Shavon Coleman

Luisa Batiz

Jared McCallister

Nadine Cooper

Emita Bethel

Jr Hill

milton guity

Roseanne Tifre

Vilma Morales

Rosemary Ordonez-Jenkins

Amy Frishkey

Ilbert J Sanchez

Dilma Gordon

Diane Roberts

Anonymous

Help Support Being Garifuna Journalism

platform

Platform is iOS

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DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

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Desktop users

Person ids

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Profile photo entry point audience

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Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

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AI Chatbot Audience

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Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

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Custom users

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Android v11.0.0 and above

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Survicate

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iOS App Version

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PYMK has donors

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Help Support Being Garifuna Journalism

Still $1,090 to go. Help us build momentum.