In honor of Thanksgiving, we want to give thanks to YOU. Because of your support, this year we saw a long-term dream of ours come to fruition: a family lifted out of poverty entirely thanks to fruit trees.
Meet Jose, member of the Los Decidios Farmer's Cooperative in El Salvador, who told FTPF during our visit to his home in July that he is currently supporting his entire family on the income generated from his FTPF fruit trees:
"Four days ago I cut down about 700 mangoes and by the end of the week it was about 1,000 fruits. I support my entire family solely on the income from these mangoes, that is what we are surviving on right now. This program has been extremely important for us."
This is what it is all about.
Your support has given Jose and his family economic freedom. And for that, we thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving
PS: Don't forget to participate in #GivingTuesday on November 29th, 2016. Each donation made to the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation through GlobalGiving will be generously matched by the Gates Foundation!
On behalf of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, thank you for supporting our "Orchards for India" project in Vrindavan, India. We are excited to present this final project report from the field. We had the honor of working with students and families in the state of Uttar Pradesh to create a school orchard and provide poverty-stricken families with trees for a source of long-term sustenance.
Together, with our project partners at Food for Life Vrindavan (FFLV), we planted and distributed 500 fruit trees to help FFLV with their efforts to provide free, daily meals to low-income students and families in the community. Fruit trees were distributed directly to families, along with proper training in their care, so that generations could have fresh produce, literally at their fingertips. Education was provided to hundreds of students emphasizing the importance of trees for the environment and how to become excellent stewards of our planet.
Here are some excerpts from FTPF arborist Rico Montenegro's journal as he managed and implemented the projects on site:
Today’s school program and planting took place at the Sandipani Muni School at Kiki Nagla, where the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation had previously donated and planted fruit trees that are now thriving and producing fruit. The new planting site was located near the plains of the Jamuna River. The orchard will provide fruits and vegetables to feed all of Food For Life Vrindavan’s hunger relief programs (www.fflvrindavan.org).
Over 150 bright and enthusiastic female students came to the school program we provided, with much excitement as we discussed our roles in leaving the environment a better place than when we arrived. Afterwards, we planted a large orchard altogether in a magnificent, driving monsoon rain. Everyone was soaked and covered with soil. Even so, these children, who are no strangers to difficult conditions, were more than excited and overjoyed by their accomplishment. While waiting for transportation back to the school, all the girls gathered together to celebrate and sing traditional songs. It was definitely an exciting time for all, including members of the adjoining village who came down to witness the activity and post-planting jubilation.
Later, more than a hundred elementary students were in attendance for our final program. As always, they asked insightful questions about our topics, such as “why is a tomato really a fruit instead of a vegetable?”, “are the roots underground different with different plants?”, “why do some trees get sick and lose their leaves?”, and “how old can a tree really get?” It is always fun to watch the amazement in a child’s eyes when you tell them a fruit tree can live for hundreds of years!
The children we worked with on these projects are children whose homes are located not far from the school. Many live in tiny houses, in vacant lots, made of tarps, gunny sacks, sticks, and rags, with dirt floors. Yet, at school, the students are always clean, well-fed, polite, thoughtful, and intelligent—with no hint of the dire circumstances from which they come from daily. I’m personally so grateful that the planting of fruit trees in this project and the education about how to care for them and how to make the world a better place has left a lasting impression on these young people, as they are the future of the region. FTPF is so honored to be a part of this process.
On behalf of all those who will benefit from this important project, please accept our collective thanks to you and the entire GlobalGiving community for making it all possible! Please feel free to contact us for future updates on the growth of these fruit trees and to stay involved in our other projects.
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Greetings!
Thank you for your support of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation's "Orchards for India" project. We are in the home stretch before the implementation of this exciting project in August! FTPF will be partnering with one of the best established and respected hunger relief organizations in India, Food for Life Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, to create an orchard of hundreds of trees to provide fresh produce for their daily food distribution programs (over 700 plates of food served daily to women and children in need). Hundreds of additional fruit trees will be distributed to poverty-stricken households who participate in the orchard planting, along with workshops on how to properly plant and care for the trees to ensure maximum harvest. Fruit varieties that will be planted include those that are nutritionally-rich and known to thrive in the area.
FTPF will not only provide the plant materials, but will be onsite to design the orchards and offer extensive horticultural training for both the orchard caretakers as well as the community at large, to promote sustainable, long-term nutrition. We will also work with students and youth, providing an environmental curriculum at schools to plant the seeds of environmental consciousness in addition to the trees themselves.
Our next report will contain all the fruitful results! We can't wait to tell you more about what you have made possible!
Greetings!
Thank you for your support of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation's "Orchards for India" project. Our team is hard at work with project planning for implementation this summer. We are thrilled to have finalized the details for our first planting, which will take place in August. FTPF will partner with one of the best established and respected hunger relief organizations in India, Food for Life Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, to create an orchard of hundreds of trees to provide fresh produce for their daily food distribution programs (over 700 plates of food served daily to women and children in need). Hundreds of additional fruit trees will be distributed to poverty-stricken households who participate in the orchard planting, along with workshops on how to properly plant and care for the trees to ensure maximum harvest. Fruit varieties that will be planted include those that are nutritionally-rich and known to thrive in the area.
FTPF will not only provide the plant materials, but will be onsite to design the orchards and offer extensive horticultural training for both the orchard caretakers as well as the community at large, to promote sustainable, long-term nutrition. We will also work with students and youth, providing an environmental curriculum at schools to plant the0 seeds of environmental consciousness in addition to the trees themselves.
Stay tuned as this exciting project develops and more details emerge in the spring! And please also check out our new "Trees for Tribes" project description on Global Giving!
Again, our thanks to you and the entire GlobalGiving community for your generous support!
Hello!
Thank you for your support of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation's Orchards for India project. Our team is hard at work with project planning for project implementation scheduled for summer of next year. We have some wonderful project partners on the ground and have found some great locations at which we will plant a variety of fruit trees to benefit the health of impoverished villagers. As is the case with most international projects, there are many details to work out.
We hope to have a full report on our progress, including announcement of the proposed project locations and other details, later this fall. Stay tuned as this exciting project develops and do check out our new Trees for Tribes project description on Global Giving!
Again, our thanks to you and the entire GlobalGiving community for your generous support!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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