Changing the World, One Child at a Time

Dear Casa Guatemala Family,

As the summer comes to an end and I prepare for the fundraising season, I wanted to take the opportunity to truly thank each and everyone of you for your support in helping us to continue our important work. Casa Guatemala will turn 50 years old next year and there have been a lot of changes since our inception. We have grown; we have shrunk; we have pivoted and we have overcome endless disasters that would have left others ready to quit and give up. Don’t get me wrong, there have been moments where we have wondered how it would be possible to continue, but we have always made it through thanks to the thousands of individuals like you around the world who believe in us. It is incredible to see that we are still here and doing what we set out to do when we started: Caring for the vulnerable children of Guatemala. That definition has changed with time but it is still the heart of who we are and what we do. 

This time of year is always great because we get more volunteers and the kids have the chance to bond with some really wonderful people who come to spend time with us! We have been really happy to have some new groups join us, but there have also been some returning families and new friends who have become part of our Casa Guatemala family! We are so grateful to everyone who comes and volunteers with us, whether it's for a few days, weeks or months! We are still searching for someone to help us create an agriculture program for long term volunteers, but our short term volunteers this summer like Nicola and Francesca who spent part of their honeymoon with us, and Mac who gave up three weeks of his summer vacation before going back to university and work to just come and help out! There have been some other great folks this year as well and every time we are joined by new people, we are always so sad to see them go, but also joyful that we have yet again expanded our Casa Guatemala family to include even more people from around the world. Some of our short term volunteers have gone on to become fundraisers for our causes and even members of our boards. We love that so many of you have joined us after only spending such a short time in our midst! I am incredibly grateful for those who continue to return and make a long lasting impact on the work we do! Our regular donors like the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation who have helped us to plant hundreds of trees over the last decade, not only at Casa Guatemala but also in the communities around our region. This year, we headed out to two more communities that were hours by car away. Some of our families come from these remote villages and it means a lot to us that we are able to bring a little of Casa Guatemala to the rest of their community. I can say the same about our teams of dentists and doctors who make the trek each year to our waterfront jungle clinic to attend to all of our kids and hundreds more from the surrounding villages. I am grateful for our local donors who show up for us constantly. Little Caesars Pizza, thanks to the Fundación Cocina de Esperanza brings the biggest smiles to the faces of all our kids and they are not shy to tell you it is their favourite donation of all!

Here in Guatemala, we have been incredibly grateful for the growing partnership that we have created with our good friends at Fundación BI. Since Banco Industrial created their own foundation, they have been making an impact all across the country with their dedication to growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship. At Casa Guatemala, this has meant we have greater access to incredible programs like 1bot, Soy Lider and their Financial Literacy program. Last week, we had a very special visit from their leadership team who presented a gift of a backpack, pin and certificate to the top 50 students of Casa Guatemala to acknowledge their commitment to the education of all of our children! We had a special presentation from the children of the sixth grade and the kindergarten class which was followed by some delicious cake! Our partnership with Banco Industrial and now their Fundación BI, has grown so much stronger in the 25 years that I have been here at Casa Guatemala. It is encouraging to see these innovative Guatemalan Foundations and businesses leading the way in creating real change and progress here in Guatemala! They truly are an inspiration and we are happy to have them as part of our Casa Guatemala family! 

 And of course, where would we be without our monthly donors from around the world who have made it possible for us to continue each month with their contributions. Whether it is $10 a month or $100, this constant stream of funding has saved the day on many occasions between our larger donations. Our village is global and all of you help me to make this possible with your support. Though we have been lucky enough to receive the support of some incredible foundations over the past few years, most of our funding comes from people just like you. Individuals and families who have seen what we do and the difference we make and decided to be a part of it. We have some very generous donors who help to carry the weight of our work through their generous annual contributions. I am so grateful to these people who have chosen Casa Guatemala to be their passion project and who give so generously of their hard earned money so consistently. So before I get started on my fall fundraising kick, I just want each and everyone of you to know how much you mean to us and for you to be reminded of the incredible impact you make through your support of our kids. They may not know you personally, but they know that you believe in them and that motivates them to do their best everyday! It helps to make sure they eat all their vegetables and beans because people have been so kind to send us the funds we need to buy them when so many families struggle to buy them at home. It helps us to convince their parents, who maybe didn’t have a chance to go to school, that their children have the potential to graduate high school so that they continue to send them to school even after they graduate from our programs. All of this is thanks to you believing in us! 

A few months ago, we started to receive donations that were made in the memory of someone we didn’t know. I searched my emails and contacts but nothing came up. Then, I heard from an incredible family who sadly, had lost their son far too soon and in their grief, found it in their hearts to ask people to donate to Casa Guatemala in lieu of giving flowers. Michael Napolitano was only 23. Surrounded by his family, he passed away peacefully after a valiant struggle following a massive stroke on May 15, 2026. He had been adopted from Guatemala and his parents wanted to give back to Casa Guatemala in recognition of his roots. We were so touched by the outpouring of donations we received. Over $4000 were donated in Michael’s honor. We were so moved that we decided to plant a fruit tree in his honor. When I mentioned planting a mango tree in his name, his family told me that was his favourite fruit. It felt nice to be able to mark his legacy at Casa Guatemala with something that he loved. 

 When our friends from the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation arrived in July, it was just about the one year anniversary of our beloved Mami Angie’s passing. In the same month, Armando was to receive the ashes of his dear brother Miguel Angel who passed away of cancer in Holland surrounded by his loving wife and sons. It seemed that we had an opportunity to not only plants trees that would live on to bear fruit for generations to come, but the opportunity to create a Garden of Memories so that we would have a place to remember the legacies of our Casa Guatemala family members who have left us, but live on in our hearts. 

We have already dedicated four trees with the help of our fifth grade class who made the signs for us and installed them with Don Armando. There are a few other Casa Guatemala family members whose legacy we will honour in our garden and we are already working on more signs and reaching out to the families of our loved ones to let them know. We look forward to having a beautiful garden filled with an abundance of fruit for our children in the years to come where we can gather and remember all of those who planted the seeds and worked so hard to help us get to where we are today and where we will be in the future. 

Sadly, we recently lost our good friend and project leader, Wayne Malouin who had been passionately fundraising for our new school restoration project. He was killed tragically in a cycling accident and we are all very heartbroken by the news. His legacy will be carried on through the completion of our new building which will be the most beautiful building we have ever built and surely the pride of our school. We are still short on the funds to complete the project but we know that we will make Wayne's dream come true and see it to completion.

If you would like to consider Casa Guatemala in your planned giving, please feel free to reach out to me directly and we can help to make sure you have all the information you need for your charitable bequests. 

Casa Guatemala is a magical place that draws you in and makes you feel like you are a part of something. This happened to me when I arrived here for what I thought would be three months in 2001. I was instantly connected to the children, the staff and other volunteers. It changed my life and brought out in me a passion and purpose that I had been searching for. I know that my case is a bit extreme, but I know that so many of  you have felt the same way after visiting us or volunteering. You have become a part of something bigger than yourself and in a great big world where we can feel so overwhelmed by all the bad things that we cannot change or fix, here in our little jungle community, we can make a difference. One child at a time. Changing lives. Changing the world.

Thank you for constantly being at our side: for your donations and for advocating for our cause! We really could never have gotten to where we are if it hadn’t been for you!  

Links:

• Progress and Final Design for our School Restoration Project