HURRICANE FIONA RELIEF DONORS
Almost exactly five years after Hurricane Maria, we got hit again by a destructive hurricane, Fiona (Sept 18/19/2022). This time around, the overall damage was similar like five years ago but I was by far better prepared.
Without being able to make a full survey yet, it seems like it will take 2-3 years to restore the farm. Practically all trees planted will have to live out their lives with injuries. By and large, nature can recover but the scars on a tree can't.
It will take about $25,000 (most of it for labor, some for materials) to get all the work done that will be needed over the next 2-3 years. Any donation or volunteer work will help significantly, and it will boost our enthusiasm and determination to get the farm back on its feet again.
Grand Donor:
Inge Stransky
Donors:
Dr. Angelika S.
Mag. Ilse S.
Devaki
Lane Kirby
Steven Feuerstein
Charlene & Tony Rivera
Charles Mc. Fall
Joshua Massera
Anonymous
Sandra Bravo
Kenneth Pinnow
Kevin Grady
Jorge Bencosme
Anita Diabate
Volunteers:
Moises
Andre
Ricardo
Jorge Bencosme
Blake DeWitt
Lauren White
Phil & Moana
Mike Chin
Stephen Morris
Xavier
Supplies:
Bala
Blake DeWitt
Dr. Deoraj Bharath
HURRICANE MARIA RELIEF DONORS
I can't say enough about those generous souls who are supporting my effort to save Govardhan Gardens after the devastating hit of hurricane Maria on September 20th, 2017. Without the help of well-wishers and donors, I would not have the funds for all the repair work required to save the farm.
The work at hand mostly consists of 2-3 years of physically demanding chainsaw work, recycling of debris, repairing ugly and dangerous landslides, and rebuilding nursery areas. I hope that I can complete these tasks by or before the end of 2018. My plan is to replant the farm again in 2019. It will be a difficult journey ahead of me, but if I can succeed, it will be a major feat, and current and future generations can benefit from the existence of Govardhan Gardens.
By January 30th, 2018, the pledges made are exactly 98% of the required amount to clean up the farm; the donations received so far are 84% of our goal, which is already covering the first ten months of all work and material related expenses to save the farm.
A special thank you goes out to Jorge Bencosme who helped me to send out the much needed fundraising letter at a time when it was extremely difficult to find an electric outlet and an internet connection.
Another special thank you goes out to Deoraj and Bala who are helping in any way they can, especially Deoraj who has done so for many years.
Farm Saving Donors:
wanakaset.org
Thanh Bui
Grand Donors:
Dr. Angelika S. (my sister)
Subramanian Family
Balakrishnan Family
Joe Hewitt
Laurie Foxx
Richard Byron
Nydia Vicente
Andrew Bodman
Davis Mangold
Alan Scott Koenig
Inge Stransky
Donors:
Jason Foxx
Derek Windham
Waldemar Stefan
Brian Richards
Oleander
Chris Weichselberger
Michael Manthey
Barath Raghavan
Eva Fajardo
Ana Perez
Marilyn Richard Figueroa
Tomas Karlsson
L.K. (prefers to remain anonymous)
Jan Verbeek
Jorge Bencosme
Jay Govinda
Kenneth Pinnow
Bannayuth
Obinna Chukwuyeku
Fatine & Josh
Alfredo Baez
Fariha Friedrich
Paco Moll
Aaron Dawley
Rob Sugarman
Juanse
Marcie Barth
Sandra Cruz Pol
Tyann Blessington
Jaimin Patel
Craig Murtha
Mother Swami
Scott Holtzman
Ilse S. (my sister)
Dr. Joerg Fischer
Christian Feher
Elizabeth Gilchrist
Sandra Bravo
Adrian Gonzalez
Michael Finch
Andrew Gould
Lisa Jander
Laura Daen
Francisco Lugovina
Jason Gregg
Enrique Lopez
Tito Paunon
Dr. Dr. Josef Rogner
Ricardo Bitar
Federico Sanchez
Chris Schuck
Tomislav Zaja
Gabriel Rios Ortiz
Jaimin Patel
Goods donated:
Eva Fajardo: inverter, Stihl chains (we will be using up about 90 (!) chains over the next 15 months; if anyone wants to donate chains, they have to fit the following model: Stihl MS 290 (Farmboss), 20 inches.
Bala: 3 chainsaw chains + a lot and great food for Govardhan Gardens and the working crew. Having quality power food during a foot shortage and a time without refrigeration option, has made a huge difference.
Brian Richards: (organic) health food care package.
Dr. Deoraj Bharath: 10 chains for chainsaw.
Marijus Karaliunas. 3 chains for chainsaw.
Mike Chin: 2 chainsaw chains.
Andrew Bodman: 2 chainsaw chains
Bernd: nursery seeds
Ellen: nursery seeds
Michael Hartz: water filter
Carlos Frontera: seeds (distributed to other eco farmers, water filters (distributed to other eco farmers), solar lights (distributes to other eco farmers).
Aaron Dawley: 4 chainsaw chains
Fernando: 2 water filters
Tom Spontelli: 2 walkie talkies
Jill Menzel: 6 chainsaw chains
Robert Hagan: 1 chainsaw chain
Stew: 4 chainsaw chains + 1 chainsaw bar; lots of veggie seeds; granola.
Terry/Parisi Family Farms:veggie and herb seeds, 12 chainsaw chains, energy bars.
Jason Foxx: rare fruit seeds to help rebuild Govardhan Gardens botanical collection. 5 chainsaw chains. Jason has been helping the project in countless ways over the years, and I am amazed every time about his selflessness and generosity.
Hurricane Relief Volunteer Work:
Courtney (2 days)
Harrison (1 day)
Ross Leffler (2 weeks): Ross was exactly the support we needed: he was always ready to do the needful, and no matter what needed to be done, he was always enthusiastic about it. His stay was good company for everyone, and it allowed us to make good progress.
Jan Michael and JP: brothers who are studying at the Mayaguez College. Both come up twice to help out with whatever needed to be done at the moment.
Stew, Jeff, Quinn: came over for a day to help with chainsaw work and removing debris.
Julie: came all the way from Austria to help out for 2 months: dedicated farm cleaning and nursery work. Julie saved many nursery plants by diligently keeping up with watering them and fully participated with our daily farm cleaning marathon.
Jorge Bencosme and Oliver Jimenez helped with the first post hurricane planting.
Ras Jonah, Henry, Rafael Fraticelli, Dhandu and Ardash Subramaniam, Jorge Bencosme all helped with a construction project and repairing the old pond.
Cano helped with some bird sanctuary work. My hope is to attract as many bird species to the farm as only possible.
Bala came all the way from California just to help out in person in addition to having donated for the hurricane relief work.
TREE SPONSORS
I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks …to everyone who has helped out with the project over the years. Even if I can't acknowledge all of you individually since so many people have supported Govardhan Gardens in various ways, I certainly remember each and every one of you.
If you would like support the tree sponsoring program, you can send a donation of $10 per tree you want to be planted.
For a donation of $300, you can also have a permanent plaque with your name installed at Govardhan Gardens.
Payments can be sent by check or Paypal.
If you would like to find out more other ways to support the project, you can write to me directly: project, write to me directly.
Here the list of all our tree sponsors (1997 - today) and the number of trees donated:
| |
Dr. Deoraj Bharath {250}
|
|
| Jason Foxx {200} |
John Collins {150} |
Ellen Schneider {125}
|
| Bala {100} |
Chris Schuck {50} |
Ricardo Bitar {40} |
| USDA Mayaguez {30} |
Dr. Angelika M. (my sis) {30} |
Digpati Roy {30} |
| Mike Dahme {30} |
Jesse Blenn {25} |
Jim Rehor {25} |
| Alex Smolak {25} |
Dr. Jasmin Azizian {20} |
Noraini Che-Sab {20} |
| Natalie Cena {20} |
Nydia Vicente {20} |
David Fay {20} |
| Dr. Nicolas Carballeira {20} |
Ai-Ling Ho {20} |
Reinhard Schober {20} |
| Richard Byron {20} |
Anson Call {15} |
Peter Gruber {15}
|
|
Dr. Juanse Ramirez {15}
|
Guillermo Pagan {13}
|
Sreekumar Menon {12} |
|
Neha Merchant {10}
|
Dr. Rusty Smith {10}
|
Carraig Stanwyck (10} |
| Vic Fadanelli {10} |
Vance Book {10} |
Evelyn Stahlberg {10} |
| Blake {10} |
Link Cinnicut {10} |
Dr. Juan Rivero {10} |
|
Todd Erceg {10}
|
Lili Grossman {10}
|
Chris Mynahan {10}
|
| Felipe Osborne {10} |
Manfred Harrer {10} |
Tomas Karlsson {5} |
|
Ryan Cook {3}
|
Paul & Lee Recht {4} |
Sucarya Dasi {3}
|
| Warren Condon {4} |
Marge {4} |
Dwaraka {4} |
| Nathaniel & Claudia {3} |
Thulasiram Janardhan {3} |
Charan Mahadeo {3} |
|
Niranjana Swami {3}
|
Patrick & Zena Brooks {4}
|
Jorge Bencosme {4}
|
| Roman Sbyzigniew {4} |
Ernesto Ernestino {4} |
Imre {4} |
| Aria Feliciano {1} |
Anonymous, PR {3}
|
Alan Scott Koenig {3} |
| Catherine Cospel {3} |
Elizabeth Gilchrist {3}
|
Alvaro Calonje {3} |
| Choudhouri Family {2} |
Rachel Noack {2} |
Kirtan Ras {2} |
| Doris/Puerto Rico {3} |
Scott Wetherell {2} |
Fred Carter {2} |
| Brian Richards {3} |
Tim Cohen {2} |
Steven Feuerstein {3} |
| Myron Martin {3} |
Jeffrey Balawajder {2} |
Vijay Singh {2} |
|
Bruce {2}
|
Jerry Anderson {2}
|
Braulio Mendez {2}
|
| Mariel Morley {2} |
Anna Ziss {2} |
Andrew Palmer {2} |
| Dhana Veena Padroo {1} |
Dr. M. Gupta {1} |
Dicky Spears {1} |
| Karen Martin {1} |
Mike Poland {2} |
Balasi Bhattacaria {1} |
| Timothy Brown {1} |
Suraj Mahadeo {2} |
Joseph Kramer {1} |
| Winthrop Dahl {1} |
Santiago Gutierrez {2} |
Ken {1} |
| Francisco J. Perez {2} |
Rick & Rochelle Rexius {2} |
"C.B." Chris {1}
|
| Beth Frasher {1} |
Heather LaCapria {1} |
James Caramello {1} |
| Nathan Denny {1} |
Charles Andreov {1} |
Ben Charland {1} |
| Srimati Radharani {1} |
Jason Coffin {1} |
Jonathan {1} |
| Justin {1} |
Cathy Gutierrez {1} |
John C. {1} |
| A. Chiarini {1} |
Dhvani {1} |
Jorge Delgado {1} |
| Paul Swinford {1} |
Nrsimhananda {1} |
C. Sivanadiyan {1} |
| Quinn Caya {1} |
Kathy & Scott Campbell {1} |
Elymaris {1}
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My special thanks go out to
Sarah Noack, Navin Lochan,
Lindsay Foxx & Jorge Bencosme
for helping with the design & maintenance
of the web site.
|
