I recently looked into the Jong Bonaire youth organization, and thought others who read the newsgroup might find the information interesting. This might be one way we visitors can make a positive impact, and perhaps reduce the petty theft rate (active, supported kids are less likely to turn to criminal activities perhaps). Here's what they sent me:
Thanks for your interest in Jong Bonaire. I will tell you a little about it here and later I will try to put last year's annual report into a pdf file to send via e-mail. The report for 2000 will be complete in about a month.
Jong Bonaire is an after school program for teens. Last year, 2000, was the first FULL year of working with the teens, but we opened the center in mid 1999. The idea is to give kids a place to go after school each day, where they can stay busy and off the streets. Sometimes they are out of school as early as 12:30 p.m.
The center now has about 230 members (of the 900 high schoolers.) We started with 150, then grew to 200 and now 230. The staff wanted this gradual growth as they learned their jobs and got to know the situation.
At the center there are roller blades and a roller blade field, 2 basketball courts, volleyball, ping pong and badminton. In addition to the sports activities, there are drums and keyboards for music training, an arts and crafts room and two computer rooms with 25 computers for the teens to learn programs and how to use the Internet. Some have learned the "Paint" program, Adobe PhotoShop, Publisher, etc. Soon we will set up ten more computers in the home work rooms to help that area.
The homework help area is a very important one and the center is now working closely with the high school. The main areas the kids need help are in language and math. Each day the kids can have a quite place to do their homework and have two staff members and several volunteers to help them.
The center has 3 full-time trained youth leaders and 4 part-time youth leaders. This is the most important element and naturally the most expensive part of the budget. But without the youth leaders the center would just be an unsupervised play ground. The leaders serve as mentors and friends as well as organizers of the activities.
About one third of the Jong Bonaire expenses are paid by the government, starting this year. Another part of the budget is covered by rental of the facility to other groups and a small part by membership dues paid by the families. This amount is quite low because the amount a teen must pay is pegged to the family's total income.
The rest of our expenses each year must come from donations and fundraising. So we are very grateful for people like you. At the end of this letter is the information on how you can donate in the U.S. We set up the foundation there so that people can deduct it easily from their taxes.
I don't know how well you know Bonaire, but up until a few years ago we had almost no crime. But it is starting to happen here, as well as drugs. The idea is try to PREVENT the kids from getting into trouble. Before Jong Bonaire only about 5% of the teens had after school activities. Even after one and a half years we can see a positive effect on a number of these kids. And it is wonderful to see.
If you do decide to donate to Jong Bonaire, could you please send us a notice of the date, amount and also your mailing address. In this way we can be sure that all our records are in order.
Thank you for your interest in Jong Bonaire. We look forward to meeting you on Bonaire one day and have time to show you the center.
Regards,
Jane Townsend, President, Jong Bonaire Organizing Committee
Contributions can be sent to:
Friends of Jong Bonaire Foundation
c/o Steve Cacciatore, VP
MLPF&S Account #820-04B36
P.O.Box 9173
Quincy MA 02269-9727
(please note that is a "BEE" in the second part of the account number, not an "EIGHT" )
tel: 617-745-5500
e-mail: steve_cacciatore@ml.com
The official name of the organization is:
Friends of Jong Bonaire Foundation
Address: c/o Sexter & Warmflash PC, 115 Broadway 15th Floor, New York NY 10006.
EIN: 11-4090990 DLN: 17053290029030 (you may need to use these numbers on your tax forms) |
By Josie on Wednesday, March 7, 2001 - 7:51 pm: 
