Mission

Fundación Las Margaritas was formed in 2010. We are a nonprofit humanitarian organization. whose mission is to serve the needs of the community of San Cristobal, in the Dominican Republic. We are dedicated to helping marginalized children have the opportunity to become leaders who bring positive change to their community.

Vision

The idea was born from our desire to make an impact on the lives of marginalized young people in the Dominican Republic. Growing up in San Cristobal we have seen the beauty of the people and the country, but have also seen great despair and poverty. For many years we brought items with us to donate to the community whenever we visited our family.

However, we always felt that was not enough. We realized that to make a greater impact and to fully bring about meaningful change, we needed to go beyond providing aid; we had to find a way to get the youth of San Cristobal invested in their community. We understood that in order to do that, we had to provide them with opportunities to become empowered, to be ambassadors of social and environmental changes in their own community. That was how Fundación Las Margaritas was born.

Time line

Summer Camps

2010

In 2010, we started our journey with a modest summer camp in Madre Vieja Sur, SC, founded by Tania and Josh.

Instead of enrolling their children in a summer school program, they created their own camp with support from friends and family. They registered the foundation in the United States as a tax-exempt organization (501(c)(3)).

Over the years, we expanded our activities, offering trips to botanical gardens and hosting notable personalities like Guadalupe Valdez, Carolina Santana, and others. We've also extended our reach to Las Galeras, Samaná, providing school supplies, sports gear, and workshops in various subjects. With the dedication of our founders, professionals, and high school student collaborators, we continue to grow and positively impact the lives of the children and youth we serve. Welcome to Las Margaritas Foundation!

Reading club

2019

As we persist in conducting our annual summer camps, we have begun to observe systematic academic deficiencies among the students participating in our programs.

Generally, students struggle notably with reading comprehension, reading (usually 2-4 grades below their level).

Consequently, in 2012 we initiated this year-round program operating from the patio of our maternal home in Madre Vieja Sur, San Cristobal. This program was coordinated by Tania (a co-founder of the foundation) and Cailyn (Social Media Manager).

We now have our Centers I and II where we are offering a STEAM program. We understand the challenges associated with this program due to the academic deficiencies of the participants, but we embrace the challenge and are making progress.

With the goal of narrowing the technological gap, we are interested in offering some technology training/introductions (such as programming languages, robotics, etc.) at our educational center to children seeking knowledge.

These programs are being taught with the collaboration of Nathalie Brito, who has organized students from the Instituto Politecnico Loyola (IPL) and university students to teach these programs to our students at our Center I and Center II.

STEM club

2019

Covid-19

2020

It's worth noting that during the most challenging months of the pandemic (May and June 2020), the foundation coordinated weekly deliveries of breakfast and lunch to all essential agencies in San Cristóbal (Police, AMET, Civil Defense, Red Cross, Firefighters, 911), including the COVID area of the Juan Pablo Pina hospital. A total of 1725 meals were distributed during this time.

Intership program

2024

Thanks to the collaboration of Nathalie Brito, in January 2024, we launched an internship program at our foundation.

We have two students from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and three students from the Instituto Politécnico Loyola (IPL).

Get in touch

Contacts

Info@lasmargaritasfoundation.org