Getting ready

Making final preparations for our trip on November 10th. The school graduation will be held on November 12th whereupon the bikes will be distributed. Working on preparing computers and collecting dental supplies and packing everything up for the big day.

School announcement

El Salvador trip

Finally, after weeks of riding, fundraising and planning, I made my first trip to El Salvador on March 1, 2010. The purpose of this trip was to: a) find a bicycle vendor and figure out pricing, volume and delivery terms, b) to visit the school in Barahona where the bikes would be delivered, meet the principal and develop a plan for disseminating the bicycles, and c) meet with a local dentist to talk about an additional idea of educating the people on the importance of dnetal care. This last item stemmed from an observation of the poor conditions of people's teeth in Barahona. Most people have never seen a dentist, nor practice regular dental hygiene. Conditions ranged from poor hygiene, severe cavities, to more severe dental structural issues. The idea was to: a) help people with the most addresable dental needs, b) set up a meeting to educate the importance of dental hygiene and of preventative care, c) collect and provide toothbrushes and toothpaste for the community.....

Benefit Dinner recap

The benefit dinner was a great success! Thank you to all those who came out to Sabor. We reached full capacity at the restaurant and raised an additional $1800 ! Thank you to Sabor for hosting us and to all the participating sponsors who donated towards our raffle (Cordua restaurants, Taco Milagro, Starbucks, Sabor and E.J. Szozda). Yianna Samartzis was the big winner of the night and took home the free Continental flight. Also, thank you to our entertainers James Grogan, Karen Yates and Kasia Szozda for their fantastic musical performances. Below are some pics from the event.