This past March, BBS became a permanent vetted partner of GlobalGiving, the world’s largest fundraising platform. There are a tremendous number of benefits to becoming a partner including our ability to now, via GlobalGiving, issues tax receipts for causes to US and UK citizens!
As part of the March partnership program, BBS participated in a fundraising campaign for a new cause and the work we chose was helping to save the school for 150 rural Madagascar children. This project is spearheaded by Ms. Céline Cousteau and we’re delighted to share the first field update from Madagascar below…
Work is underway at NY DINA College with the leveling of the land for the school garden. The dirt collected from this process will be used to construct a perimeter wall around the school grounds to help keep wildlife out of the vegetable beds. All of the donations that BBS receives are designated for the creation of the gardens as well as to kickstart their egg production. As the work continues, more pictures and detailed updates will be sent.
In a related note NY DINA College received grant funding, separate from BBS, specifically for building a soccer field and outdoor activity area. The ground has been levelled for the sports area and next step will be building a small number of bleachers. As with the garden leveling process, the dirt collected from this activity will be used to build the perimeter wall.
The next step in the creation of the garden will be to continue to build out the perimeter wall. While Madagascar is slowly reopening, we do anticipate that finishing the wall will take longer than originally planned because of the continued difficulty the workers face with restricted transportation in the region.
We’d like to thank everyone that donated to this cause and helping BBS achieve permanent partnership status at GlobalGiving. This was a huge undertaking during the COVID-19 global crisis but it demonstrated what can be accomplished when we all pull together!
