About Us
Desana's mission is to improve and enrich the lives of extremely poor children. Desana began in 2006 when my wife and I visited Cusco Peru. My wife had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and really struggled with the chemo. She said that if she lived through the chemo, she wanted to travel. On this trip, we met Gary Sanchez (now our Peruvian Project Director) and he shared his vision of giving back to the children around Cusco who were extremely poor. He told us of his idea to give them a Christmas party. that was all it took. We agreed to help by providing a party for 117 children in Anapauha Peru who had NEVER had a Christmas Party or had been given a new gift. (See pictures in our media section). We received our 501(c)3 in 2007. Currently we have 9 projects in 3 countries. We only go where we are directed.
Who We Are
Our organization came about because of a trip we took to Peru. From that trip we started our 501c3 to help and enrich the lives of children anywhere in the world. We are all volunteers. We do not have any paid employees. The first two years there were only four working volunteers and three project directors. Now we have more volunteers working in five states and three countries.
Our Organization's Mission
Desana's mission is to enhance the positive quality of individual, family, and community life by providing services that are accessible and responsive to the needs of individuals, families and groups seeking assistance, and to work with the community to contribute, facilitate, and promote solutions for the enrichment of all. Desana will help children and communities thrive by locating key individuals with knowledge of particular needs and utilizing that knowledge to put our resources to work doing as much good as possible for as many people as possible for as long as we are able.
Who We Serve
We serve children. Period. Extremely poor children that need our help and that have an advocate locally that will become our Project Director.
Our Programs
Peru - Cusco Area - Christmas Parties for impoverished children.
Peru - Pomatales School - Uniforms, educational and teaching materials and basic hygiene products.
Peru - Bruce Peru - dedicated to educating the poorest street children and striving to eradicate poverty through a program whereby the women own and operate small businesses.
Russia - Nizhny Tagil - Shelter - provide hot meals and a safe place for the children.
Russia - Petrokamensk Hospital - Holding facility for children to be placed into the orphanage system - Provide milk, juice, and basic instructional training.
Russia - Karpinsk - Handicapped Children's Orphanage - helping provide suitable playground equipment. Out ultimate goal or wish would be to complete the renovation to this facility. The Russian Govt only sends $50,000 per year to run and remodel this facility. The director does the best he can to modernize the facility. It would take $1.2 million to completely finish the renovation.
Russia - Zaimka - Children's Village Orphanage - Family unit orphanage - provide birthday presents for one house - provide party for the 160+ children. The wonderfully run orphanage does not have running water. The pump is broken and the plumbing is substandard. They do not have the money to fix this system. Our wish would be to install a new water system for this facility.
Russia - Nizhny Tagil - Orphanage Graduates - help with after care for boys and girls recently graduated from Orphanages in the Nizhny Tagil area. Our ultimate goal or wish is to open and staff a professional half-way house to transition these children from the protected orphanage life into life in the real world.
USA - Pine Ridge Indian Reservation - provide English literature books and motivational speakers.
Upcoming Events
Always something coming up on a local basis. Check our website for events close to you. www.desanagiving.org
Leadership Profile
Desana Inc is governed by a board of directors with a broad background and diverse core competencies.
Board of Directors
George Houk - Chairman - Shelbyville TN
Troy Kramer - Vice Chairman - Stillwater MN
Kathy Houk - Secretary-Treasurer - Shelbyville TN
Craig Miller - Director - Winston-Salem NC
John Sanders - Director - Atlanta GA
Major Supporters and Sponsors
St Andrews Church - Minnesota
Church of the Redeemer - Tennessee
Hundreds of loyal individuals!
| Year Founded : |
2006 |
| 501(c)(3) Ruling Year : |
2007 |
| Volunteers : |
12 |
| Annual Income : |
$65,000 |
What Sets Us Apart
Focused and driven to help these children. 100% of all money donated goes to the projects. ALL EXPENSES are paid for by the Board of Directors and Volunteers.
Objectives for This Fiscal Year
Go where we are lead and do what we are asked to do. We only grow if it is put before us. We are on the verge of some very large projects: Karpinsk Renovation ($1.2 million), Nizhny Tagil Graduate Halfway house ($250,000+), More schools in Peru and Latin America ($150,000).
Recent Accomplishments
From a very meager start ($2000 paid out in 2006) to almost $30,000 in 2008 has brought a lot of challenges. We have not solicited our projects. They seem to be put in front of us. We comitt to the project and the money seems to come. (Not without hard work and asking many people and companies, and churches). One project recently was the Piura School in Peru. This school is in the poorest of poor neighborhoods. Desana was asked to support totally this school. Provide three meals a day for these extremely poor children (60 of them), pay for school teachers, a social worker, and a nurse. We also would have responsibility for paying the rent for the facility. This was going to cost us $10,900 and we said yes not knowing where the money would come from. We just knew we had to do it. At that time, we were introduced to a benevolent church (St Andrews) in Minnesota who agreed to fund the first year!
