SANTO DOMINGO.- In its next Great National Collection, Techo RD aims to build 30 wooden houses for vulnerable families and continue working in collaboration with community leaders to improve the quality of life of the community.
Yesterday, the details of this year's event were announced, which will take place from May 19th to 21st in shopping centers and streets of the country's main cities, with the goal of raising 3.5 million pesos for the construction of emergency housing.
For the 2023 fundraising campaign, called "Build a Roof, Transform a Country," Miguel Cunillera, president of Techo RD, explained that 1,500 volunteers with collection boxes will be receiving donations from the public on May 19, 20, and 21 in large shopping centers and the main streets of the National District, Santo Domingo East, Santiago, Salcedo, Bonao, San Francisco de Macorís, La Vega, Baní, La Romana, and San Cristóbal.
He highlighted that this organization has built 1,143 emergency homes in the national territory, through 10 community infrastructure projects, with which they have impacted more than 70,000 people directly and indirectly in their 13 years of work in the country.
The representative of the non-profit organization explained that they must raise more funds each year to achieve their goals of rebuilding homes and providing support in communities where access to drinking water is almost nonexistent. In 2022, the team of young volunteers managed to build 15 emergency homes in rural and urban areas, at a cost of approximately 1.6 million pesos.
He specified that the 2022 campaign raised funds that allowed them to build homes, deliver water filters, gather information, mark streets in communities such as La Piña, in Santo Domingo Este; El Progreso IIB and La Paz, in Los Alcarrizos, and build emergency housing for affected families.
Among the beneficiaries of the homes built with inexpensive materials such as wood and zinc sheets, among other easily accessible resources, are people who were affected by Hurricane Fiona in Hato Mayor del Rey, among other social initiatives and programs.
These actions aim to reduce the country's housing deficit of 1.5 million homes. The organization has been supporting this cause for about six years with financial and material resources for the provision of drinking water.
"We have invested more than 15 million pesos during the time we have been supporting the strategy," said Dennis Simó Álvarez, CEO of Banco Caribe, where a press conference was held yesterday to announce the details of Techo RD's 2023 National Fundraising Campaign.
Photo: Techo Dominican Republic.
Volunteers
The general director of Techo RD, Jorge Fernández Winter, explained that as part of their organizational responsibility, they involve the community in the construction process. To this end, they reach out to gather volunteers from various sectors, including carpenters, electricians, and young people with a passion for service. Currently, they have 40,000 volunteers available in 93 locations.
Fernández explained that they face the challenge of continuing to carry out construction despite the prices of building materials, noting that the wood they use has increased in price and, therefore, their operating costs have also changed.
He said that the investment for each house ranges between 190,000 and 250,000 pesos, depending on the area.
To collaborate with the campaign, in addition to volunteers going out to the main roads, there will be collection boxes available at all Banco Caribe branches for direct contributions or through transfers to current account number 4150073231 of Banco Caribe and on the website rd.techo.org/colecta-2023/.
