Mark & Kathryn Ford Family Foundation Inc

https://mailchi.mp/d84c953a38be/funlimn-english-professor-selected-for-fulbright-program-in-usa The Mark and Kathryn Ford Family Foundation focuses on community development through education. The Mark and Kathryn Ford Family Foundation at FunLimón is a non-profit organization based in Tola, Nicaragua.Our mission is to assist in economic development and to provide select social services to the local community. We do the former through an integrated program of commercial education, English-language training, business coaching and microloans. We do the latter through educational programs, social activities and the funding of select social programs. Most of our activities are centered in a 30-acre community center in Limón Uno, just across the street from Rancho Santana, a residential resort established in 1997 that donated the land on which the community center was built. The center consists of two school buildings, an administrative office, a covered basketball arena, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a martial arts dojo, a baseball stadium, a soccer field, a playground and a small livestock farm.Our educational programs include English language, music and computer classes for children and adults. We are also developing a trade school with a rotating curriculum that will vary depending on current, commercial demand. The initial program will teach plumbing and sewing skills. In the future, we will be adding courses in other in-demand job skills, such as carpentry, electrical work, and air conditioning maintenance and repair.Our sports complex provides structures and facilities for a variety of athletic activities including baseball, soccer, basketball, softball, body building, cross training and martial arts for adults and juveniles living in the vicinity. Some of these events, such as the baseball games, provide welcome social settings for the community at large. We also host graduation and other ceremonies where adequate space and amenities (such as bleachers) are not available elsewhere.On our livestock farm, we produce meat and eggs that are used to supplement local public school lunches. Our surplus product is sold in the community to help pay for the cost of running the farm and feeding the animals.FunLimón has a very active micro-loan program to help local people with home improvements, emergency medical needs and funding for small businesses. We also provide scholarships and other financial assistance to promising students. And we help children in several grammar schools with the cost of school uniforms, shoes, and school supplies.The Mark and Kathryn Ford Family Foundation funds all of the efforts to develop, improve and operate the FunLimón community center. But we actively solicit donations from people who like what we are doing. The donations help us cover many of the ongoing expenses of some of our programs – in particular, the sports leagues, the scholarships and the educational programs.100% of the money that is donated goes to support these programs.The ongoing overhead and personnel costs of running the foundation are covered through a separate source of funding.That means that EVERY dollar donated goes toward community programs.