Last Updated on June 22, 2020 by Laura Cooper
Corporate responsibility
We want to give back to the communities where we send travellers. The Dominican Republic is our 2nd most popular country for the all-inclusive vacation packages we sell. Through our partnership with SOS Children’s Villages, we are able to give back to the communities that we have fallen in love with, and ensure that vulnerable children are cared for, protected, receive a quality education, and can pursue their dreams for the future.
A child sponsored through SOS Children’s Villages to attend school
SOS Children’s Villages, Dominican Republic and tripcentral.ca
SOS Children’s Villages has three children’s villages in the Dominican Republic that provide a loving home to 352 orphaned and abandoned children. We’ve come on board as a corporate partner to support access to education for the children living in the children’s village of Los Minas.
Primary education in the Dominican Republic is a requirement, but few children attend because the cost of school uniforms and supplies are often unaffordable, and having a child in school eliminates another set of hands that could be bringing in money for the family.
SOS Children’s Villages in the Dominican Republic
Our contribution will help cover school fees, uniforms, supplies, books, and extra tutoring for 100 children living in children’s village of Los Mina, located outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
SOS provides access to kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, and extracurricular activities for children within its care. In addition to providing uniforms and school materials, SOS offers one-on-one tutoring, psychological support, and extra classes, knowing that many of these children have never attended school before and have been through traumatic situations.
What does SOS Children’s Villages do?
SOS Children’s Villages provides safe family homes for over 80,000 children that have been orphaned or abandoned. There are currently 569 villages in 134 countries. Each SOS child is part of an SOS family with an SOS mother who provides constant care, love, and support for five to ten children. These women, locally hired and extensively trained, provide children with more than a place to live; they provide a family.
In addition to the children’s village set-up that SOS provides to orphaned and abandoned children, SOS also offers programs to support parents and families at risk of abandoning their children, vocational training programs for young adults, and emergency relief when disaster hits around the world.
SOS Children’s Villages has been working in the Dominican Republic or more than 30 years and now supports 352 children in 3 villages located throughout the country. Approximately 578,000 children (under the age of 15) are without parental care in the Dominican Republic: around 20 per cent of those are orphans.
How you can help
If you are like our team at tripcentral.ca and would like to give back to a community that you have fallen in love with through your travels, consider making a donation to SOS Children’s Villages. Know that you will truly be making a difference in the life of a child in need.
9 Comments
Cathie:
Do you provide a charitable tax receipt for donations to the SOS children’s fund?
Regards,
Michael Chorney
Hi Michael,
A tax receipt can not be given when there is an incentive to give. Throughout December, we have an incentive on to win a prize (You can find details here: http://www.tripcentral.ca/sos.html).
What really matters is that you want to donate, and you can do so by not entering for the draw and donating on this general page (https://secure.soschildrensvillages.ca/donate?_ga=1.162166399.237141308.1480431444). Here, the funds won’t go directly to our Los Minas village but would go where it’s needed most.
Or, you can wait until after the campaign is over (in January) to donate through the tripcentral.ca page without the incentive – but then you will receive a charitable tax receipt.
Hope this helps!
I have been donating to SOS for several years now, and yes you get a tax receipt
What percentage of the donated funds from Donor’s (myself, not tripcentral) goes to the charities?
Hi Holly. 80.5 per cent of the donations go to the children; the rest is used for admin and fundraising fees.
before I donate I would like to know how long sos childens villages have been in existence. Also, do you have an audited annual report
thanks
Hi Murray. SOS has been around since 1949. Their 2016 annual report can be found here.
Do you let people know when they have been entered and how many entries they have?
I am happy to be able to donate $25 to this wonderful cause. Kudos to tripcentral for sponsoring this school!