First of all, let me extend a heart-felt thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who helped us through a very difficult 2010. It should be to no one's surprise that last year, charitable giving was at an all time low. The state of the world's economy had much to do with that. We faced some tough times and had to make some tough decisions but we survived thanks to a hand full German benefactors who helped us remain solvent. We look forward to fulfilling their dream of extending technology to every classroom in 2011.

2010 was a year of change for us. Our core group of volunteers grew then contracted. We had a wonderful web designer who helped get us on the web and her dedication maintained our web presence since we began. Her thoughtfulness and caring was truly an inspiration to all of us. Please join me in thanking Amy for all her hard work and late hours. She has moved on to devote her full attention to graduate school.

We are now working with two freelance web designers to fill her shoes. They are among our unpaid volunteers. Join me in welcoming Eve and Shannon to our team. If you have a project for either of them, please contact them to show your gratitude and support. Eve can be reached at Tropicali Design Studios.

Application for 501 (c) (3) status was made to and approved by the United States Internal Revenue Service this year. USA citizens can feel confident your contributions remain tax deductible.

Our efforts garnered the attention of the Public Relations firm, Pluribus, S.A. in Tegucigalpa. Their group is now lending their expertise to help us establish ONG status. Once approved, our group will be eligible to receive additional foreign government funding. We will publish more information about ONG status throughout the coming year.

We have established an Atlanta presence. Although our telephone is working we currently have no one to answer your calls directly. You are welcome to call and leave a message but e-mail remains the quickest way to contact us. Please leave your e-mail address in your message so someone can respond.

The list of organizations and individuals to whom we are grateful is long. Here is the short thank you list.

Our web-hosting company, Web.com donated several months of service at no charge and upgraded our hosting plan at a reduced cost.

Our corporate attorney, Denise Herman has joined our Board of Governors and continues to be an inspiration for our group.

We have picked up many more supporters on Facebook and other international organizations have contacted us to join our efforts.

Lastly, we have joined forces with Caribbean Island Charities International and operate as one their units. Our focus of enhancing educational opportunities for the children of Utila remains unchanged but our reach is expanding.

You will see many changes as the New Year progresses.

We will aggressively pursue many more campaigns than we did in the past and expand our ongoing campaigns like Operation Clean Teeth and the Art for Kids program.

We will provide more detail about each campaign than we did in the past and add a new 'How You Can Help' section to each campaign so you can decide how you wish to help.

We will regularly report progress towards goal attainment.

We will extend our reach by using social media like Facebook and Twitter.

We will also publish operational costs so you will know how monies contributed go to support the organization.

We will remain an organization of unpaid volunteers and subsist on the efforts of kind hearted individuals.

To everyone, we wish you a happy and joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year. Thank you for all of you support.

...The staff and volunteers of Save Utila

Today, we celebrate. The IRS has granted our foundation 501(c) (3) status. You contributions are tax deductible. See our website to make a contribution.

Happy New Year!!! ...one month late. We are resuming operations now that the political situation has settled down in Honduras. Donations were significantly down in the forth quarter 2009 due in much part to the worldwide recession.

I would like to thank our web hosting company for donating their services to our group last year. Also, many thanks to our developer who enabled on-line donations through the Utila Children's Relief Foundation website.

Among last year's successes was Operation Clean Teeth and the Art for Children program. Many dentists heard our call and donated dental supplies which were shipped to Utila and distributed to children. One artist in the USA donated a pallet of casting resin to an artist here on Utila who offers free art lessons to children.

We have an ambitious goal for 2010. We are looking for cash contributions for our Feed the Children campaign. Since Utila is a tourist economy, many of the island's poorest children are left with little when tourism dwindles.

Our group has forged relationships with a couple restaurant owners to feed children at non-tourist prices. Each dollar that reaches Utila feeds one child two meals a day. Please consider our group when you schedule your charitable giving this year.

Thank you,

The Staff and Volunteers of The Utila Children Relief Foundation

It has been awhile since the last update. Here is what has transpired: the web-site has been redesigned, we are able to process credit card donations and have the funds wired down to Honduras, electronic educational curriculum initiative is underway, and our membership ranks have grown yet again. If any of you have suggestions about improving the foundation's reach please email us. Regular updates resume this month. Thank you for all of your support. Keep those donations coming.

Yippee for the Foundation.

A few weeks ago we received a cash contribution to the charity and just yesterday a dentist donated 147 children toothbrush/paste kits. If anybody knows any dentists in your area, these sorts of contributions are well appreciated. Also helpful are donations from dermitologists in the form of skin care products.

Please coordinate contributions like these directly through Amy McFann who also helps out with membership, her contact information is available on the foundation website. If you wish to make a monetary contribution, visit our website for our banking contact.

A heart felt thank you goes out to all who have been supportive.

Here we are a month later and our membership ranks continue to grow. This past month, The Utila Children's Relief Foundation became a legal entity and we have already received our first donation. The website will be updated soon to process future donations. An eBay store has also been established where tee-shirts will be marketed to support our efforts here. Visitors to the eBay store have the option of purchasing a tee-shirt and having the item shipped to them or have it donated to children here on Utila.

To better understand the needs of the children, I am meeting with the Director of education and his deputy for the Adventist school system, next week we plan to meet with the Director of the Methodist school. I will publish the results of the meeting over the next couple of weeks.

I ask that everybody help spread the word about this tiny island and together we can make a difference. We recently added volunteers from Edinburgh, Scotland and Bristol, England. WOOHOO!!!

Everyone of you should be proud or yourselves, it is now two months that we have been working here on Utila. We started with 2 members now we number 184; thank you for everyone's help. We still have an ambitious goal of 10,000 members by end of summer. Please take time to post something about The Foundation to each of your Facebook accounts. When I review the web-site statistics, it is apparent that our organization has a global audience.

The web-site was recently updated with information about Mr. Woody Howell, the former mayor and his support of our efforts. Today, I will meet with the head of the one of the island's school boards to better understand their needs. If I get his permission, I will have his information posted to the web-site as well.

I also met with the Chief of Police who is also enthusiastic about the Foundation. He was kind enough to provide a tour of the island's desalination plant and discuss the lack of municipal funds required for its operation.

Folks, I have great news. Today, April 27th, The Utila Children's Relief Foundation became an official legal entity. We will soon have a US bank account for US charitable contributions and a Honduran Bank account for international contributions. Honduran law is somewhat more complicated than US corporate law and according to our Honduran attorney it may take up to four months to pass all of the legal hurdles. Our website will soon have a Paypal button to facilitate donations. Thank you to all that been supportive of our efforts here on Utila.

Here is a brief update. I have met with a municipality councilman, the directors of two local school boards, the former mayor, and numerous business owners all of whom are very enthusiastic about the program. Their names and pictures will soon appear on the website.

Here's what you can do to help. Spread the word and encourage your friends, family, and work associates to join this cause. More updates will follow. Thank you once again.

Well, it has been one month. We started with 2 members and now we are 37. I have met with the island doctor and his clinic is in need of financial support. He has donated his services for the last 8 years. I also met with the dean of one of the three schools. They are very interested in having guest teachers. So, if there are any college students wanting to develop an independent study program let me know and I will submit them to each of the schools for their approval. Check the web site for additional information. It is updated weekly.

Dear Friend,

The Utila Children's Relief Fund has set an ambitious membership goal of 10,000 members by the end of summer. Please take a few moments to help us reach that goal by sending a letter such as this to all of your Facebook friends. We are working on the web site now and it is being updated every week. With all of us working together we can make a big difference on a small island.

Thank you for you support and caring.