Thank You Letters to our donors – 2022
Greenheart believes in connecting people and planet through fair trade, personal development, environmentalism, and volunteerism. Our cultural exchange programs help create global leaders by building mutual understanding and fostering diplomacy. And Greenheart encourages our alumni to give back to their communities through our Global Impact Grant.
In 2022, the Greenheart Global Impact Grants were a financial award of up to $1,000 given to exemplary members of the Greenheart community. It provides current participants and alumni with the opportunity to create, improve, or maintain a community-focused project abroad or at home. As the Greenheart alumni network continues to expand, more and more of our participants are working towards an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and peaceful world. The funding for the Grants come from generous donors.
Here are thank you letters from our Greenheart Impact Grant winners in 2022:
Ayaulym (Aya) Akhilova – December 2021 awardee (completed in 2022)
Dear Greenheart Donor,
I, Aya Akhilova, am a winner of the 2021 Greenheart Global Impact Grants. I am writing this letter to express my gratitude for your endless help made towards the project I organized with my team.
Act2Sustain was a three-day intensive workshop organized in order to raise awareness regarding environmental issues facing the country of Kazakhstan and its biggest city, Almaty. The idea of the project came after I moved to Almaty. Its air was unbreathable, literally. Wearing a face mask was a mandate not resulted by the pandemic, but rather by difficulty breathing properly.
Watching the factories, lines of vehicles stretched through the city’s main street, and simply people increasing the risk of climate change was painful. I knew I had to do something. Unfortunately, I am no ecologist to create great and instant changes in ecological policy of the country. But I am capable of spreading my word through my actions, which led to implementing this project.
Act2Sustain is about people that are connected via their passion about the change. It connects people with various backgrounds into a small pool of those creating impact. Since the beginning, the project aimed at spreading the word about the environmental crisis at a local level. By that, I mean developing a small impact in their communities by initiating the fruit of their passion,
concern, and work. As a result, 18 selected eco-warriors were working in groups throughout the project in order to present their work and share their outlook with their peers. Those three days included sessions on defining climate change issues, environmental projects to inspire participants, and various webinars from eco-activists who shared why they became vegan, for
example. My favorite part was definitely the tote bag painting workshop, where participants created their very own design on a canvas tote bag. However, the main part of the workshop was three sessions on project management. They were organized in order to provide the participants with the tools needed to make the difference and make the project sustainable.
I would like to thank you. Thanks to you this project became a reality. Thanks to you we connected open-minded, passion-driven students with each other to create a difference in the future. It is heartening to know that there are individuals and organizations like you who believe in the work that people like us do. Your donation has not only provided financial support, but it has also given us the motivation and encouragement to continue our efforts in making a positive impact in our community.
Once again, thank you for your generosity. Your support means the world to me and those who have taken part in the project in any way, and we are deeply grateful to have been a part of your good endeavors. If you have any questions regarding the project, do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Ayaulym (Aya) Akhilova
Shannon Villanueva – Project Children of Tomorrow – May 2022 awardee
Greetings Greenheart Donors!
A “thank you” does not suffice for how I whole-heartedly feel about your generosity towards this project. I am truly honored and so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to create something life-changing and inspiring with your donation. The irony is, it’s not just the target community that’s been changed and motivated… it’s me as well! So many beautiful and transformative things have been birthed from Project CoT, but none of it would have been possible without you all.
Because of your liberal giving and trust in Project CoT, you have had a huge hand in positively shifting the lives of children, adults, elders, refugees, orphans, and a whole community in Western Thailand. We have been and will continue to enrich a population that is typically overlooked and ignored by other facets of society. Such a shame, considering the people we serve are some of the brightest, kindest, most open, and generous people you could ever meet. We have deeply connected with a group of people that we don’t share a common culture, language, or background with. We have bonded with other fellow volunteers, who are from countries from all around the world- Bangladesh, England, the Philippines, Thailand, the USA, South Africa, Bhutan, Poland, and so many more places. How beautiful is that?!
All of this is possible because of you all, and again I must say a huge THANK YOU once again. Thank you for your ample kindness and generosity- it has served as a catalyst for many wonderful and inspiring things to happen! Best of luck in all your future endeavors, and a big “kap khun ka” all the way from Thailand!
A million thanks,
Shannon Villanueva
Tiara Prasetyaningtyas- Trace on Earth – December 2022 awardee
Dear Greenheart Donors,
On behalf of the Trace on Earth team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your generous contribution to our social project for people with disabilities. Your donation has had a significant impact on our efforts to improve the lives of those in need, and we cannot thank you enough for your support.
Thanks to your generous donation, we will be able to continue providing essential services and support to people with disabilities. The Trace on Earth team works tirelessly to ensure that everyone has access to the resources and opportunities they need to lead fulfilling lives, and your contribution is critical in helping us achieve this goal. In this project alone, you have provided more than3 months of training for people with disabilities to learn how to produce souvenirs that can help increase their economic income in the future.
With your support, we can continue to provide access to education, training, and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. Your donation will also help us to provide essential services that improve the emotional well-being of those we serve.
We are committed to making a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities, and your support is a vital part of our efforts. With your help, we can ensure that people with disabilities receive the care and support they need to reach their full potential and live life to the fullest.
Once again, thank you for your generous donation. We appreciate your support more than words can express, and we look forward to updating you on the impact of your contribution.
Sincerely,
Tiara Prasetyaningtyas
Samuel Takyi-Elkannah – Raising Heroes from Zeroes – May 2022 awardee
Dear Donors,
Thank you so much for your generous donation to ‘Raising Heroes from Zeroes’ project.
We are truly grateful to your commitment to the children in our community.
With your help, we have provided 25 children in Ghana a lifeline to overcome their specific learning difficulty by helping them identify them, bring their parents on board, train their teachers on how to support their learning, equip them with the necessary tools, equipment and resources to enhance their literacy and skill development needs.
This could not have been possible without you! Thank you.
Regards,
Samuel Takyi-Elkannah
Kimbian Lim – Project Lumba – August 2022 awardee
Dear Greenheart Donor:
We, at Project Lumba, are incredibly grateful for the opportunity you’ve given us to make an impact to our community. Your support has provided a platform to put problems regarding marine mammal stranding and preservation issues to light and for them to be put into the mainstream through this initiative. For you to realize our dream project on environmental sustainability means so much to us, the facilitators, participants, and the marine mammal wildlife.
Project Lumba, the Filipino word for Dolphin and Cebuano word for race, aims to protect our dolphins and other marine mammals in a race against time. Through this, we were able to capacitate 15 participants in marine mammal stranding and preservation, which without the grant would not be possible. The greenheart impact grant provided us the opportunity to invite qualified experts and expose participants to first-hand field experience in the Sarangani Bay Seascapes. We were able to do this all with ease, thanks to our donors.
After the implementation of the project, we look forward to the institutionalization of the trained participants on stranding. We also hope to sustain it by encouraging more locals and youth to be more involved in the protection and preservation of our marine mammals. Thus, we hope to expand our impact through area expansion which would require larger grant funds and more partnerships.
Once again, thank you Greenheart International and our donors for supporting our marine mammals and their plea for salvation and protection, and for making this initiative as impactful as
it is.
Sincerely,
Kimbian Lim
Kirin R. Taylor -Kids’ Community Garden for Sustainability & Education – December 2021 Awardee
Dear Kind Supporters,
Thank you so much for entrusting me with your support. I got to pilot a garden that is helping to create a curriculum for food security, and nutrition and fitness empowerment. We have implemented some of it already in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) and plan on continuing to do so in the next school year (we are anticipating this contract renewal in the summer)!
Children need good nutrients to stay active. Children need comprehension of the connection between mental and physical health, what they feed their bodies, and how they move them. In the last year since initiating the garden our team has learned so many valuable lessons about caring for the earth, and have made valuable partnerships such as working with MooseFit whose fitness instructors have engaged the after school students in fueling their bodies with healthy food to inspire movement!
Honestly, our team has been challenged to creatively respond to obstacles as they come up by converting them to opportunities! It is a long-term objective of ours to establish garden sites at schools and at urban housing centers where children can access them and engage with them, along with other community members. In the case of this project (which you can read about more in the blog) we had to move our intended garden site from an apartment’s property to our team member’s land, for liability reasons. Though this wasn’t ideal, it helped us to observe more closely the needs of the garden, including the honey bees, and to create an innovative method of bringing plants to the classroom in transportable boxes – showing the versatility of growing one’s own food – and informing future planning of urban-based projects, such as in Alexandria.
As a minority-owned, new, and small (family-owned) social enterprise, Taylor-Adepoju Group was so happy to have support in this project, and the children and schools we work with, as well as our partners, began seeing the benefits. There is so much more to come, and many of our materials, seeds, the curriculum we developed, and the knowledge we gained will continue to benefit communities in Virginia. We will not stop there, and hope to come back to you in the future with more positive developments and even replicable guidance and sharable curricula to help empower communities in their relationships to food, nutrition, and nature.
In these uncertain times, exposure to green innovation and personnel commitment to sustainability is invaluable. We hope the butterfly effect of our work will travel far and wide, as people do through Greenheart (both physically and philosophically). Please know we could have not done this project without your help!
With infinite gratitude and kind regards,
Kirin R. Taylor
Precious Esi Mensah- Resilient Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture- December 2021 Awardee
Dear Donors,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. On behalf of the entire team at the Resilience for Inclusive and Sustainable Agriculture (RISA) project, I wanted to express our deepest gratitude for your generous support and contribution that made this transformative initiative possible.
Thanks to your invaluable donation, we were able to train farmers on adopting climate-smart solutions, empowering them with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the challenges posed by climate change. Your belief in our project’s mission has made a significant impact on the lives of farmers and their communities.
The training program we conducted has empowered farmers to implement sustainable agricultural practices, enhancing their productivity, resilience, and overall livelihoods. Through your support, we were able to equip them with the necessary skills and techniques, ensuring they can adapt to changing weather patterns and mitigate risks effectively.
Furthermore, your contribution has allowed us to extend our training beyond climate-smart solutions. We were able to provide the farmers with the knowledge and skills to create reusable power banks from recycled laptop batteries. This innovation did not only address the energy needs of farmers but also promotes environmental sustainability by reducing reliance on traditional energy sources.
Your grant of $1000 has played a vital role in our accomplishments. With your support, we have successfully recycled 100 laptop batteries into solar-powered banks, enabling farmers to access clean and affordable energy for their electronic devices. This has not only improved their connectivity but has also brought about cost savings and reduced environmental impact.
We are proud to inform you that our team has grown significantly since the inception of the project. Currently, one fully trained engineer is mentoring five other team members, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of our efforts. Your generosity has directly contributed to this growth, enabling us to extend our reach and impact more farming communities.
As we continue to move forward, we promise to keep you updated on the progress and impact of the RISA project. Your support has inspired us to strive for greater achievements and has fueled our determination to create a sustainable future for African farmers.
Thank you once again for your unwavering support and generosity. Your contribution has made a lasting difference in the lives of farmers, fostering resilience, inclusivity, and sustainability in Africa’s challenging agriculture sector. We are deeply grateful for your belief in our project and for joining us in this noble endeavor.
Additional awardees whose projects are not yet included are Albert Haizel and Tiara Prasetyaningtyas. Their letters will be shared upon completion of their projects.
Precious Esi Mensah
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