Be a Super Friend for our children in Venezuela!

Our last report from Sept addressed the first impact of two new partnerships (for in-kind donations) and the efforts planned for the last quarter, from the Panamerican Benefit Gala, featuring the America Viva! Show, to GivingTuesday, both having an impact on potential funds.

As 2021 is coming to an end, here is a potential “landing” for the year:

FINANCIAL & OPERATIONS METRICS

• -4% in Total Revenues when compared to 2020 Results.

• -21% in Total Monetary Donations, a major improvement from the -67% back in Sept and is mainly explained thanks to IRC (International Rescue Committee’s programs executed by Friends’ local team) and the funds raised after the Panamerican Benefit Gala (+$16K).

• +77% in Total In-Kind Donations (from the +46% back in Sept), thanks to Heart to Heart International, our latest partnership that resulted in a large donation of medical supplies.

• +38% in aid shipped to Venezuela! Thanks to our new partners Orphan Grain Train (OGT) and Heart to Heart International (HHI) and their donations of large quantities of hospital equipment and medical supplies, Friends reached a new height: 2,271 cubic feet!

• Aprox. $19K saved in sea shipments to Venezuela, thanks to our cargo partners who support Friends with free-of-charge cargo space and/or very reduced tariffs. This is 3X the savings compared to 2020 but of course, shipping expenses for this year will be higher and efficiency ratios will be recalculated.

OUR IMPACT - BENEFICIARIES

• Total Pediatric Patients (Jan - Oct): 7,476 little patients (+13% compared to same period in 2020) assisted directly through Friends at the pediatric hospital under our program. The hospital is reporting 37,741 cases (-11%). The hospital continues dealing with Covid-19 and therefore, some areas are closed or allocated to pandemic.

• +200 health care workers are also supported by Friends on a daily basis. Hospital beds donated by OGT were just installed and now hospital staff are receiving medical supplies from both OGT and HHI

• As of Oct: 12,240 multiple micro-nutrients supplements (MMS) have been distributed since late July. This is 36% of Vitamin Angels’ donation and is allowing +100 pregnant women to take these special prenatal supplements on daily basis.

• Schools just re-open late Oct and our program Alimentando Futuros also resumed its daily nutritional meal program for +1,800 school age children under program. Attendance rates are increasing progressively and the daily meal at school is once again an incentive to return and stay at school (before pandemic, school dropout was +50% nut thanks to our meal program it reduced to 3%)

We are finishing the year with efforts and activities that bring us joy and encourage us to start 2022 strong! Our best-ever GivingTuesday on Nov 30 raised $8.8K from donors and $2.8K in incentive funds from GlobalGiving, that is $11.7K in funds for medicines, nutritional meals, etc. On the other hand, “Taller de Santa” collected +200 Christmas toys that our children in Venezuela will be receiving in the days to come.

As we are closing the year and start preparing our annual report, we are already reflecting and discussing on the results, the activities executed, the learning and corrections, new ideas, and certainly the overall 2022 action plan.

Thank you! All this is possible with your support and we know next year we will do more and better for our children in Venezuela.

Links:

• AMERICA VIVA! Show
• World Report 2021: Venezuela | Human Rights Watch
• Venezuela situation - UNHCR