Fiesta to Benefit Children in Dominican Republic, Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith, Nov. 5

Posted October 31st, 2009 by Mary

in

Source:

TuBoston.com

(image: TuBoston.com)

The following is from TuBoston.com, 29 October 2009.

Fiesta to celebrate Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith non-profit organization The annual benefit event to help children in the Dominican Republic will take place Thursday, November 5 6:00-9:30 pm @ One Federal Street, Boston.

Join Los Niños at its annual benefit hosted by Bingham McCutchen LLP:

Thursday, November 5, 2009 6:00-9:30 pmOne Federal StreetBoston, MA

Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith Inc. is a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation committed to increasing educational opportunities for children in the Dominican Republic. Enjoy a night full of Live Entertainment, Food and Drinks. Minimun suggested donation is $75.

Los Niños is currently operating Colegio Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith in Las Terrenas in the province of Samana, a primary school for seventeen students living in poverty. Each day, el Colegio provides the students with six hours of classroom instruction by two qualified teachers, breakfast, and a hot lunch. Los Niños solicits donations from the public to pay rent for the schoolhouse, pay the teachers and staff, and to buy food for the meal program, books, and classroom supplies.

Los Niños was founded by Anne Post of Boston, Massachusetts, after she witnessed children living in poverty in the Dominican Republic. Los Niños believes that a quality education is the best tool to break the poverty trap, and is committed to providing educational opportunities to poor children in failing schools. The organization is named after and in memory of Leonardo Lopez and Meredith Quinn, Massachusetts natives who lost their lives while pursuing their educational goals.

In the fall of 2005, Anne approached the Lawyer's Clearinghouse for Housing and Homelessness in Boston, after repeated attempts and rejections for obtaining pro-bono legal assistance for the project. Bingham McCutchen LLP agreed to represent Los Niños free of charge, and was responsible for filing corporate and tax documentation at the state and federal level to achieve tax-exempt status.

The school has been in operation since 2006 and currently provides free education to 15 children living in poverty. Los Niños is happy to report that the students - who would otherwise be in failing schools with no accountability -- or worse, on the streets - are thriving.

Los Niños is also proud that 100% of the donations are spent on education and all administrative services in the United States are performed by unpaid volunteers and staff.

Los Niños' goal is to increase the number of classrooms by building a new schoolhouse in 2010, and we need your help. The cost of providing food and classroom services for fifteen students is approximately $35,000 per year. 100% of your donation is taxdeductible and 100% will be used for providing educational services to the children.

For more information about Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith, please contact Anne Post at (617) 695-0090, Philip Jordan at (617) 951-8086, or Richard Toelke at (617) 951-8830.

Los Niños de Leonardo y Meredith Inc.P.O. Box 196East Boston, MA 02128-0002

Source: TuBoston.comCopyright 2009 New England Ethnic Newswire, EthnicNEWz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed without the permission of the source. E-mail inquiries or press releases to NEWz at EthnicNews (@) yahoo (.) com.Follow EthnicNEWz.org on Twitter at Twitter.com/EthnicNEWZorg.