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Father’s Day & Teacher Year End Gifts!​
Father’s Day is in one week! Do you have anything for your dad yet? And school is almost out for the summer. Have you gotten anything for...

Desiree
Jun 13, 20211 min read
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hola from the Dominican Republic!
Where is the first place you’re going to travel to when travel is allowed again? We are going to hop on a plane to the Dominican Republic...

Desiree
May 26, 20211 min read
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A story about an elementary school
We’d love to tell you a story about our amazing elementary school. We are currently providing funding for the operations of Centro...

Desiree
May 10, 20211 min read
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going back to school!
*UPDATE* The government has postponed the opening of schools in Puerto Plata because it is such a tourist destination. They want to...

Desiree
Mar 19, 20211 min read
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"I am Emmanuel" is finally here!
We are so excited to tell you about Kelly’s debut children’s book I am Emmanuel!! Yes, Ruben’s Shoes founder Kelly Strongitharm has...

Desiree
Feb 26, 20211 min read
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New Grade 7 Students!
Our high school is done! Against all odds (nothing like building a school in another country during a global pandemic!)... we did it!!!...

Desiree
Feb 22, 20211 min read
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250 desks for secondary school
We did it! We have been campaigning to purchase enough desks to fill our new secondary school and thanks to the help of our incredible...

Desiree
Jan 5, 20211 min read
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holiday food packages
With the holidays just around the corner we are so happy to see that our students and their families have received a third round of food...

Desiree
Dec 20, 20201 min read
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Student tablets
Our students began home-based learning back in November and as you can imagine, many of them did not have the means to virtually learn...

Desiree
Dec 16, 20201 min read
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elementary school 3rd floor construction
It's hard to believe that we went from a small 4 classroom school with just 24 students to this! Our elementary school now has over 300...

Desiree
Nov 22, 20201 min read
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it all started with a girl
Meet Dacheline! In 2014 we met a woman named Aris Toribio who had converted her 4 unit rental apartment complex into a school to provide...

Desiree
Oct 17, 20202 min read
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online learning in the dominican
The Dominican Republic has recently seen an increase of COVID cases and the newly elected Minister of Education announced that classrooms...

Desiree
Oct 1, 20201 min read
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Our secondary school is complete!
After years of working on the purchase of the land, then raising enough funds to purchase the land and keep up with construction costs,...

Desiree
Sep 4, 20201 min read
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Dominican Covid Update
The Dominican Republic surpasses 95,000 coronavirus cases today, September 2nd, including the 648 new positive cases in the last 24...

Desiree
Sep 2, 20201 min read
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Ruben's Ruckus 2020
We had big plans for our 3rd Annual Ruben's Ruckus and we couldn't let a global pandemic get in our way! So in light of COVID-19 we...

Desiree
Aug 23, 20201 min read
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Laptop donations Thank you!
Across the lower mainland, many youth and their families are unable to access computers because of financial concerns, most which have...

Desiree
Jun 15, 20201 min read
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Laptops needed!
We are collecting laptops to help deliver access to Education to children in need in the Greater Vancouver area to support...

Desiree
May 25, 20201 min read
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covid relief in the dominican
A massive thank you to Aris Toribio, her husband Pedro and our staff, Jose Vasquez Ortiz Ameidy Toribio Bisono, and Angie Toribio for...

Desiree
Apr 17, 20201 min read
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Secondary School Update
We are over 70% complete and to date we have sent $245,000 to the Dominican Republic all of which has been used to hire local contractors...

Desiree
Feb 1, 20201 min read
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meaningful christmas shopping ideas
Struggling to find a meaningful gift for that person who is impossible to shop for; has everything and doesn't like anything?! Why not...

Desiree
Dec 10, 20191 min read
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