Luena Foundation – Continuing A #LegacyofLove

Continuing a
Legacy of
Love

Lifting
Children
Up

Strengthening
Communities
From Within

TOGETHER WE CAN SHIFT THE NARRATIVE ON CHILD POVERTY

LOCAL, DIRECT INVESTMENT LEADS TO SUSTAINABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND INCREASED ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR FAMILIES.

Our Model

We find, vet and fund projects and programs that are positively impacting children and young people at their local level.

Our Partners

We partner with local, grassroots organizations whose deep connection to their community makes all the difference.

Our Inspiration

Who was Luena? Find out how her memory is inscribed in every child we reach and how her legacy inspires everything we do.

Our Focus Areas

We focus on projects that address eight core commitments that are central to the wellbeing of children worldwide.

Our Principles

What are the core values we adhere to? Learn about our decision-making process and the ethical commitment we make to both our partners and donors.

How Can You Make An Impact?

Every gift can help to materially transform the life of a child in need. Here’s how you can start a #LegacyOfLove.

INVESTING IN CHILDREN WORLDWIDE

We partner with local change-makers who are making an impact in their communities by improving the lives of children, youth and their families

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OUR IMPACT

Since 2019, we have reached dozens of communities by helping power their efforts to implement lasting change

26

Local Partners

9

Countries Where We Work

10,000

Children Whose Lives We've Impacted

45

Communities We've Transformed Together

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Giving Tuesday is November 30th!

In honor of #GivingTuesday, our Board has committed to match up to $37,000 raised in public donations through the end of the year. As always, our founders cover administrative costs so that your entire donation is invested locally in the children who need it the most.

Help us continue this work by creating a #GivingTuesday fundraiser on your Facebook page or by donating directly by clicking the button below.

Raised: $3360Goal: $37,000

50%

Match My Gift!

What Does a #LegacyofLove Look Like?

Follow us on social media for the latest on what goes on at the Luena Foundation

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Want to know what kind of an impact we can make to

Want to know what kind of an impact we can make together this #givingtuesday? Check out the link in our bio to find out!

Education is universally recognized as the number

Education is universally recognized as the number one most effective tool for overcoming poverty. Through education, children are empowered with the knowledge and skills required to improve their lives and break the pernicious cycle of structural poverty. That is precisely why we are proud to announce the completion of another impactful project with our local partner, Action for Change, in Cameroon. It was hard for us to imagine how kids could learn without a roof over their heads exposed to the sun and rain, so together, we renovated their classroom block and provided much-needed textbooks and other essential school items. All with a donation of $3,800 and the local knowledge of how to get things done right.
What will it take for us to secure our children's future? Join us today to find out.
#cameroon #EducateThemNow #breakthecycle #endpoverty

Now more than ever, our WASH projects (water, sani

Now more than ever, our WASH projects (water, sanitation, hygiene) are proving to be vital to vulnerable children in the Global South. We're proud to announce the completion of another WASH project with our partner, Action for Change, at Kombo Primary School in SW Cameroon. Together we constructed a gender- sensitive, four compartment latrine and we installed a safe drinking-water and hand-washing facility to benefit over 340 local children, most of whom are internally displaced (IDPs) fleeing from the ongoing civil war. For less than $4,000, our donation will ensure a happier and safer livelihood for these children. Please join us in these endeavors and consider donating today.
#africa #Cameroon #WASH #cleanwater #sanitation #hygiene #health #IDPs #refugees #cleanhands #UNSDGs #dignity
music from @bensound

Today we are proud to announce the completion of a

Today we are proud to announce the completion of a very special project with our local partners RUDECCAM with help from Action for Change at Bekoko-Yato Primary School in SW Cameroon. Through a grant from Luena Foundation, they constructed a wheelchair-accesible, gender-specific latrine combined with a rainwater-collection hand-washing facility. We also designed a changing room designated for the menstruating girl students and stocked it with female hygiene products. #Africa #Cameroon #WASH #CleanWater #SafeHands #MenstrualHygieneManagement #womenshealthmatters #inclusion #LegacyOfLove #LegadoDeAmor #EducateThemNow #everyoneincluded

Luena Foundation is proud to announce the opening

Luena Foundation is proud to announce the opening of the new kindergarten in Idilana Village, Madagascar which we funded and constructed alongside our amazing partners, Mazava Association. Thank you to our dear friends Sylvie Malal, Mbolatiana Razakarisoa, and all of the incredibly talented and hardworking people in the village whose time investment brought this project to life. We can't wait to see the kids' faces when they come back to school tomorrow!!!

#localhumanitarianism
#niñosfelicesysanos
#legacyoflove
#backtoschool
#madagascar

With a heavy heart, we at Luena Foundation are sad

With a heavy heart, we at Luena Foundation are sad to announce the passing of a dear friend and a kindred spirit, Fernando Seoane. Fernando passed away last week from cancer and he was only 52 years old. While his life was taken far too soon, his spirit and generous soul will live forever. We had the good fortune to meet Fernando and his beautiful family when we spent eight months in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2019.

Words can’t adequately describe our feelings and level of gratitude to Fernando for all that he did to help those in need. Even while we was being treated for cancer, Fernando volunteered so much of his time to donate food, clothing and other essentials to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children and families in the province of Buenos Aires.

Thank you Fernando... the world is a better place because of you. Along with our little friend, Luena, you are an angel guiding our endeavors, and your legacy lives on. Emily and I are better people because of the friendship we shared.

We are proud to announce the completion of a cafet

We are proud to announce the completion of a cafeteria/recreation room/cultural center at at Laguna Negra's local primary school, 'La Escuela Madre Teresa'. Laguna Negra is a remote rural agrarian community in Nicaragua's mountainous interior where the population lives on less than $2 a day. Our donation also provided the funds to 1) pay a local teacher's salary for one year and 2) restore the community's dilapidated chicken coop and 3) purchase 50 laying hens whose eggs will provide a meaningful source of protein for the children at the local school.

The community-based organization, Fundacion Hogar Luceros del Amanecer has been an amazing partner on this project and our hats are off to local community members who invested the tremendous manpower and talent that made this work possible. Our donations are always invested 100% locally so that they create an immediate and lasting impact for the children that they serve. @hogar_lucerosdelamanecer
#Nicaragua
#niñosfelicesysanos
#legacyoflove
#legadodelamor

**
Estamos orgullosos de anunciar la finalización de una cafetería / sala de recreación / centro cultural en la escuela primaria local de Laguna Negra, 'La Escuela Madre Teresa'. Laguna Negra es una remota comunidad rural agraria en el interior montañoso de Nicaragua donde la población vive con menos de $ 2 al día. Nuestra donación también proporcionó los fondos para 1) pagar el salario de un maestro local durante un año y 2) restaurar el gallinero en ruinas de la comunidad y 3) comprar 50 gallinas ponedoras cuyos huevos proporcionarán una fuente significativa de proteínas para los niños de la escuela local.

La organización comunitaria Hogar Luceros del Amanecer ha sido un socio increíble en este proyecto y nos quitamos el sombrero ante los miembros de la comunidad local que invirtieron la tremenda mano de obra y talento que hicieron posible este trabajo. Nuestras donaciones siempre se invierten 100% localmente para que creen un impacto inmediato y duradero para los niños a los que sirven.

To celebrate the birthday of Luena and her love of

We’re really proud to announce the completion of

We’re really proud to announce the completion of our WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene) project with our local partners Action For Change in Cameroon. With a $5,000 investment from Luena Foundation, they built a gender-sensitive 4 compartment latrine facility for school children in a rural community in the SW region of Cameroon. The school also gained access to clean drinking water and 80 new desks for their classrooms. More than 440 children - more than half of which are girls - were positively impacted by this project; and the efforts by Luena Foundation and Action for Change have sustainably transformed the lives of local children for the better.

#watersanitationhygiene
#unsdgs
#leavenoonebehind
#sustainability
#cameroon
#childrenofafrica
#legacyoflove

The founders of Luena Foundation donated the money

The founders of Luena Foundation donated the money to help a group of volunteers called ‘Mas Para los Chicos’ paint and improve a park for disadvantaged youth in the humble neighborhood of Los Aromos (Merlo, Province of Buenos Aires). Luis Leguizamon, who became a close friend of ours during our time in South America, along with his group of volunteers (many of which were neighborhood children) spent several weekends painting and improving the park.

Thank you Luis for your heart and desire to make the lives of those children around you better. We at Luena Foundation believe that all children - rich and poor - deserve equal access to education, healthcare, food, and more.

Besides these basic human rights, does not every child deserve the right to have a clean and safe place to play and to be a kid? We at Luena Foundation aim to help as many children as possible achieve their dreams for a better life and opportunities for their family.

💕🦄🌈💕 Vivir en corazones que dejamos at

💕🦄🌈💕 Vivir en corazones que dejamos atrás no es morir.

"The story of women's struggle for equality belong

"The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." Gloria Steinem
#8m #iwd2021 #generationequality #niunamenos #vivasnosqueremos

Meet Marcos Denzel, a 6 year old boy who has been

Meet Marcos Denzel, a 6 year old boy who has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumor (diffuse midline glioma) and is fighting for his life. Unfortunately for Denzel, he was born in Angola where he does not have access to the specialized treatment (IMRT) that could help save his life. Denzel's story touched our hearts as the Luena Foundation was born from Luena's tragic death at the age of 11 and the gift of life that her parents gave to five other children when they decided to donate Luena’s organs.

The Luena Foundation, together with our founders and members of Luena's family have decided to: 1) fly Denzel to Sao Paolo, Brazil and 2) help pay for the life-saving treatment that he needs.

Please keep this little guy in your thoughts and prayers. We know Luena is looking over Denzel and sending him the endless love and the strength to continue his valiant fight. There are many children struggling for a better life and we urge all of you to find it in your hearts to help a child in need.

The Luena Foundation (Tax ID 83-330256) has recent

The Luena Foundation (Tax ID 83-330256) has recently been added to the list of charities on the Fidelity Charitable Account list. If you have a Fidelity Charitable Account and would like to aid our mission in helping children in need all over the world, you can now donate directly to the Luena Foundation through your Fidelity Charitable Account. We are also happy to announce that our founders and two other Board Members recently donated close to $20,000 USD to the Luena Foundation. 100% of donations go directly to helping children, as our founders cover all operational expenses and nobody associated with the Foundation receives any personal compensation whatsoever. Thank you in advance for your generosity and support!

Amidst all of the negative news in the world today

Amidst all of the negative news in the world today, it gives us great comfort to know that the Luena Foundation is having a positive impact on those in need. We have partnered with Action for Change, a local NGO in the small village of Muea in south-eastern Cameroon. Together with Action for Change, we are building a four-compartment toilet facility for both boys and girls; constructing desks for the local primary school; and, most importantly, we we are constructing a pipeline to bring safe drinking water to the school and their families (this project will positively impact close to 500 people).

The project leader from Action for Change sent us this message earlier today:

“Our project is advancing and there is joy and jubilation among the entire school community. To the head teacher it is like a dream. Thanks to Luena Foundation.”

The world will only become a better place through our actions and the empathy and compassion that we show to others. Our legacy will ultimately be determined by the love that we have transmitted through helping those in need.

The Luena Foundation would like to acknowledge the

The Luena Foundation would like to acknowledge the 'Kindness Squad,' an extraordinary group of 26 students at First Coast Christian School in Jacksonville, Florida. Their amazing teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Walker, started the 'Kindness Squad' in order to teach her class just how important it is to give back to those in need. Today, the 'Kindness Squad' took the $400 grant from the founders of the Luena Foundation and donated it to the Trinity Rescue Mission, one of Jacksonville's local women and children's shelter. The donation will help to feed and provide clothing and school supplies to 26 homeless children. It will also provide classes for their moms and enroll them in a work program, where they can earn their own money and eventually find a home of their own. Further, it will provide transportation to and from school for the children who live at the shelter. Furthermore, as a recognition of the important work of the 'Kindness Squad,' the First Coast Christian School has offered to generously match the Luena Foundation's donation, increasing the size of the donation to the shelter to $800 USD! We at the Luena Foundation believe that kindness is contagious and we applaud the 'Kindness Squad,' for their efforts at spreading love, compassion, and empathy for others in need.
There is nothing more vital than instilling the values of love and service in our younger generation. We are firmly convinced that the 26 members of the 'Kindness Squad' will definitely help to make the world better a place. We look forward to continue working with all of them on future projects, including a literacy project for underprivileged kids.

We are proud to announce our donation of $3,750 to

We are proud to announce our donation of $3,750 to Mazava Vent et Soleil, an association based in Madagascar. Funds will be used to build a preschool in the small rural community of Idilana and will enable local women to work to feed their families while their young children receive quality care. The local govt will be granting funding for 1-2 people from the town to work in the preschool and the town will be investing their time and energy as an in-kind contribution to help build the preschool.
While Idilana is located only 30 km from the capital Antananarivo, the majority of its inhabitants do not have electricity, have limited access to medical care, and live off of $2 a day. In addition to Luena Foundation's donation for the preschool, a large French corporation has donated several solar panels which will provide electricity for the village. Solar electricity will help to improve health, education, and economic opportunities for the families.
This will hopefully be the first of many collaborations between Luena Foundation and Mazava in Madagascar.
***
Donamos $3,750 a Mazava Vent et Soleil, un asociación con sede en Madagascar. Nuestra donación se utilizará para construir una guardería en la comunidad rural de Idilana y permitirá que varias mujeres trabajen para alimentar a sus familias mientras sus pequeños están cuidados. El gobierno local otorgará fondos para que 1 o 2 personas del pueblo trabajen en la guardería y el pueblo invertirá su tiempo y energía como una contribución para ayudar a construir la guardería.
Idilana se encuentra a solo 30 km de la capital, Antananarivo, pero la mayoría de sus habitantes no tienen electricidad, tienen acceso limitado a atención médica y ganan $2 al día. Encima nuestra donación, una empresa francesa ha donado varios paneles solares que proporcionarán electricidad al pueblo. La electricidad solar ayudará a mejorar la salud, la educación y las oportunidades económicas a las familias. Esperamos que este sea el primero de muchas colaboraciones entre LF y Mazava en Madagascar. #Madagascar #teammazava #enfantsdemadagascar #legacyoflove #legadodelamor

The founders of the Luena Foundation purchased and

The founders of the Luena Foundation purchased and donated 18 Android tablets and 250 cloth masks for the children at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario in El Gastor, Spain.
Many teachers and administrators all over the world are confronted with the pressing need to migrate daily lessons and homework to the internet, yet are struggling with limited digital capacity in their communities. The pandemic has laid bare not only the effect to which we are all equipped to deal with a public health crisis, but also the gaping technological inequalities that disproportionately affect low-income families.
We at the Luena Foundation uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that "children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity". At this moment in the face of a global crisis, the future of our children is at stake. We must fight like never before to uphold our moral obligation, and we are grateful to those who stand with us in our mission.
***
Los fundadores de la Luena Foundation compraron y donaron 18 tabletas Android y 250 máscaras de tela para los niños del Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario en El Gastor, España.
Muchos maestros y administradores de todo el mundo se enfrentan a la imperiosa necesidad de migrar las lecciones diarias y las tareas a Internet, pero están luchando con una capacidad digital limitada en sus comunidades. La pandemia ha expuesto no solo nuestra capacidad de frenar una crisis de salud pública, sino también las enormes desigualdades tecnológicas que afectan de manera desproporcionada a las familias de bajos ingresos.
Desde la Luena Foundation defendemos la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño, que establece que "los niños deben poder crecer, aprender, jugar, desarrollarse y prosperar con dignidad". En este momento ante una crisis mundial, el futuro de nuestros niños está en juego. Debemos luchar como nunca antes para cumplir con nuestra obligación moral, y estamos agradecidos con quienes nos acompañan en nuestra misión.

The founders of the Luena Foundation recently dona

The founders of the Luena Foundation recently donated resources to buy food for 110 families of high school students who attend the Madre Del Pueblo school in Villa 11-11-14 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The resources donated are also helping to buy food for the 6,000 meals per week provided by the emergency comedor (community soup kitchen) that is currently operating out of the school.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people all over the world, but for those in developing nations, it has dramatically affected people’s entire livelihoods, threatening everything from access to healthcare, clean water, housing, food security, etc. As the economy continues to collapse under the strain of the pandemic and inflation soars ever higher, statistics collected by UNICEF indicate that more than 60% of Argentine youth will be plunged into poverty before year-end.
You can stand up and make a difference for children everywhere. Get in touch and join us. Compassion is the only way forward.
@secundaria_mdp
#covid_19 #niñosconhambre #pandemiaargentina

“We are still connected” Donation of critical

“We are still connected”
Donation of critical PPE to Oakland Children’s Hospital, April 2020. Many thanks to all the families that helped make this possible, especially to the Mills family whose hearts know no limits!!! #luenafoundation #PPE #frontlineheroes

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News & Stories From the Field

January 8, 2019 | #LegacyofLove

Realized Efforts in Cochabamba: September – December 2018

Realized Efforts in Cochabamba: September – December 2018 We recently concluded our time in Cochabamba, Bolivia and have set out to explore

August 6, 2019 | #LegacyofLove

Luena Foundation Announces Strategic Partnership with Minga Valpo

The Luena Foundation Announces Strategic Partnership with Minga Valpo Luena Foundation is proud to announce its partnership with Minga Valpo, a registered

August 15, 2019 | #LegacyofLove

Rodrigo’s Alegría

Rodrigo’s Alegría Meet Rodrigo, an extraordinary young man from rural Bolivia who just got the opportunity of a lifetime. The Luena Foundation

September 3, 2019 | #LegacyofLove

Luena Foundation Announces Strategic Partnership with Fundación Pilares

Luena Foundation Announces Strategic Partnership with Fundación Pilares Luena Foundation is proud to announce its partnership with Fundación Pilares, a registered Argentinean non-profit

October 9, 2019 | #LegacyofLove

Sponsor a Child’s Education in Argentina With OGA

Sponsor a Child's Education in Argentina With OGA Luena Foundation is proud to announce an alliance with OGA (Old Grads Michael Ham), an Argentinean

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