We Love Kiteboarding Junior Team Fundraiser 2023

Welcome to our first annual We Love Kiteboarding Dominican Junior Team fundraiser!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! Ontario kiteboarders, Ekaterina and Rod Baker, have generously offered to match whatever we can raise in this GoFundMe! To achieve our initial $10,000 goal we now only need to raise $5000 with your help! And, if we were to raise $10,000, Ekaterina and Rod would also match that too, helping us achieve an incredible $20,000! Massive THANK YOU to Ekaterina and Rod and everyone else who has reached into their pocket to help make these junior kite dreams come true!

Every child, teenager and young person dreams of one day competing side-by-side with their sporting all-star heroes!

This upcoming weekend, March 29-April 2nd Raul Corniel has invited our We Love Kiteboarding Junior Team to participate again in the D.R. OPEN Kiteboarding competition, giving all these youngsters a chance to shine in the presence of their Dominican all-star heroes - Posito Martinez, Carlito Martinez, Li Loo, Luis Alberto Cruz, Lorenzo Calcaño, Joselito Del Rosario, Carlos David, Andri Ramirez and many more!

It is in the presence of such outstanding high performance that youngsters are deeply inspired!

Every Cabarete kite kid knows the legendary status of, and wants to become, the next Adeuri Corniel!

Every kid just needs an opportunity - like the one they will receive this weekend in the DROpen.

But a lot goes into making the most of such opportunities when they are presented.

The dream of competitive kiteboarding is expensive! There is startup capital, kite repair, transportation, hotels, and registration fees - all ongoing costs required to enter prestigious competitions around the Dominican Republic and, eventually, the world.

And every kid needs to eat, eat, eat!

We Love Kiteboarding has succeeded in this project so far through the help of our very supportive kiteboarding community both back at home in Toronto, Ontario, and here in Cabarete!

Over the years, we have sold We Love Kiteboarding t-shirts for fundraising and received many donations of kites, bars, boards, and harnesses.

Bill Auer has been most generous in purchasing brand-new kites and boards for many of the kids!

And, over the years, big-name brands, like SPLEENE Kiteboarding, have shown tremendous support for next-generation Cabarete riders too, ensuring upcoming riders like Luis Ángel Lafrance always have the latest and greatest in kiteboarding equipment!

And we wouldn’t be here without Papo, our local Cabarete kite repair expert forever fixing the kid's kites at cost - or less!

So, in the video, where you see these awesome kids standing on the podium - it took A LOT to get them there!

For many reading this post they stand on the podium, in part, because of YOU!

So, thank YOU for your contributions! Thank you for caring, and sharing, whether it be through purchases, donations, listening, words of strength, mentoring, coaching, or offering social media comments or shares!

The kids need all of us. And together - many hands make light work!

Why are we fundraising for $10,000?

1. Access for Youth to the World of Kiteboarding! We are supporting approximately 20 We Love Kiteboarding Juniors Team riders, ages 11-20, on Kite Beach, Cabarete. We need money to buy equipment and to cover the costs of repairs! Why should we support these kids with an opportunity to kite? Because it is one of the best sports in the world, with an incredible lifestyle, surrounded by an amazing community, and offering realistic, constructive and productive goals - a future to dream for and live up to!

2. Regional Competitions! Each year, we are registering our Junior Team in 3-4 regional competitions around the Dominican Republic - in Cabarete, Las Terrenas, and Salinas. We need money for transportation, accommodation, registration and FOOD! Why should we support competitions? Because this is what our Team Riders are dreaming about, this is what they want more than anything else in the world - to be part of a team showcasing their tricks and talent in professional competition, in front of professional judges and a crowd full of cheering supporters! Woot!

3. Video Production! One of our Junior Team riders, Markendy LaFrance, 20, is also developing a career in social media (photography and video production) and he is going to accompany the team throughout the year, releasing YouTube video highlights that document our team's stories - the highs, the lows and everything in-between. We need money to pay Markendy for his professional-grade videography service! Why should we support the video production of our team? Because we need to tell our story, to show the world how far a little love, money and organization can go to offer access, inspire inclusivity, and create opportunity for youth at all the kite beaches around the world - and because we have an opportunity to develop Markendy's professional career at the same time too!

4. Lifeguard Training! Select team members will receive First Aid/CPR training, so our Junior Team can also provide substantial additional value - with a service - as LIFEGUARDS on Kite Beach! There will be a cost for this training, and for lifeguard equipment. Why should we support the certification of lifeguards at Kite Beach, Cabarete? Because the kids are already at the beach, helping, rescuing riders in distress all the time anyways - and knowing First Aid/CPR may save someone's life! It will be an amazing value-add for Kite Beach!

5. IKO Certification! Select team members will receive Instructor certification through the International Kiteboarding Organization (IKO). Our team will be educated in the best practice and highest safety standards as set by the IKO. An IKO certification will also lead to a career as a professional instructor earning a significant wage in the Dominician Republic.

SPECIAL UPDATE! In partnership with the IKO and Spleene Kiteboarding, and THANKS TO YOUR DONATIONS TO THIS GOFUNDME our We Love Kiteboarding Team Captain Luis Angel LeFrance, 18, is now registered and pre-studying for the IKO ATC & ITC Instructor Courses! Luis will be We Love Kiteboarding's first Professional Team Instructor - and, to pay it forward, will donate time teaching the next generation of kids that come to Kite Beach. This brings our mission full circle! When we first met Luis he didn't have a kite, he didn't know how to kite. Now, as a professional instructor, Luis will be a leading example for all other kids who come to Kite Beach. And, as a professional IKO instructor, Luis will now earn the best wage teaching lessons on Kite Beach too!

Dreams come true - thanks to YOU!

6. Uniforms! Why? Because every team should be united in style and attire!

7. International Competition! If we reach our goal of $10,000 one select team member will also be invited to compete in Colombia or Brazil, at a prestigious international competition, in 2024. Why should we support sending a Team Rider to international competition? Because that is the ultimate goal all these kite kids are dreaming about - to become the next world champion! One Team Rider, representing all the kids from Kite Beach, will get a chance to make this dream come true. Yes, dreams come true!

We are dreaming BIG!

We've had an amazing 2022 competition season, sending all these incredible kids on multiple kite trips to D.R. OPEN Kiteboarding and Salinas Kitefest, both world-class kiteboarding competitions around the beautiful Dominican Republic!

Watch here -> We Love Kiteboarding Junior Team Salinas Kitefest

Please Like & Subscribe for more awesome videos from Markendy!

THANK YOU for buying our We Love Kiteboarding t-shirts, the proceeds of which help pay for kite equipment and repairs, mobile devices and repairs, competition registration fees, transportation, accommodation, and food when competing around the Dominican Republic!

THANK YOU for donating your unused kite equipment, computers, and mobile devices, ensuring all these great kids can stay connected and keep learning every day online!

THANK YOU for the straight-up cash donations that have also been invaluable towards the costs of making all these dreams come true!

Sponsors & Supporters: Maike Elisa Müller, Martina Payne, Amanda Smith, IKO International Kiteboarding Organization, Jonathan Dodds, Carola Vasquez Rico, Stef Pro , Patrick Mendoza, Romain Thomyre, Mark Hinnen, Anne New, Kyle Pinnell, Kent Ackerman, Jason "Ghostrider" Maloney (RIP), Robin Mordasiewicz, Jorge Silva, Philip Grin, Keverly Dyson, Eric Moller, Cameron McCullough, Ali Le Pierrès (Charlie's Foundation), Charlie Bern, Emily Williams, Pierre Biron, Bill Auer, Walid & Sabine Al-Hajj, Julian Ganton, Andre & Olga, John Bozic, Brad Siim, Rod Baker, Alyas Ali (Made for Kings & Rogues), Steven Pargetter, Judith Krimski, Alison Estrop, Oz Kamacı, Tunch Er, Christopher Lewis, Samantha Chilvers, Justin harrington, YP Productions Inc. Season 5, IV Moiseyev, Guy Lancaster, Mike Komljenovic (greatlakessurfcompany), Sean Fischer, Humberto Olivia (Kiteology DR), Raul Corniel (D.R. OPEN Kiteboarding), NorthLine Sports, Posito Martinez Kiteboarding, Carlito Martinez, Joselito Del Rosario, Kelvin Corniel (Optimal Kitesurfing), Doug Austrian (Kite Club Cabarete), Apolinar, Gustavo Yacaman (Kite House Cabarete), CKSS.ca- Canadian Kite Surfing Society, SPLEENE Kiteboarding, Marc Leutsch, Rainer Leutsch, Candace Shadley, George Armstrong, Adriano, Trevor Smith, Greg Odero-Jowi, Papo, Andreas Lagopoulos (Unchartered Kite Sessions), Emily Williams, Gaston Martin, Annie Guilbault, Stephane Duchanaud, Cameron McCullough, Piedade Maria Colaco, Elke Mayer, Ella Avivi, Kathi Rebearth, Phil Baker, James Statham, Ken Trillo, Leo Van Der Bosch, Zarko Zuber, Patrik Ashgora, David John, VillaCruz HotelRestaurant, Artik.com and Alexis Vandame!

$10,000 x 1 donation = $10,000

$1000 x 10 donations = $10,000

$100 x 100 donations = $10,000

$10 x 1000 donations = $10,000

$1 x 10,000 donations = $10,000

So many ways to get there!

Thank you in advance for any donations.

If you can not make a cash donation please join our team journey by sharing our story on social media!

All team expenses will be accounted for publicly, and transparently!

We Love Making Dreams Come True!