| Players Trust and MLB-DDA Strike Out Poverty |
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Banks of Hope organizes women into community groups that meet weekly to learn financial management, human development, and entrepreneurship. Later these same women identify opportunities to generate income for their families and receive small loans to start or improve upon a micro-business.
Justa Heredia, a mother of four children and associate of the Guaricanos Bank of Hope chapter, was introduced to the program by a friend. After Mrs. Heredia attended her first meeting and learned about the possibility of accessing a loan at a more affordable rate than from a loan shark, she decided to continue attending the weekly educational sessions. She eventually received her first loan of US$85 to capitalize her existing empanada business and purchase other goods to offer a greater variety of empanadas. After repaying her first loan, she received a second loan of US$245 to build a small cart that could be wheeled around her neighborhood to sell her products at different street corners. “I am very grateful that the Banks of Hope program has arrived to Guaricanos and Villa Mella, because as I have benefited from it, others from my community will as well,” stated Mrs. Heredia. Esperanza International, founded in 1995 by retired baseball player David Valle and his wife Victoria, is a Christian micro-credit organization in the DR andHaiti and started Banks of Hope as they realized the importance women play to break the cycle of poverty. The micro-credit program exists in over 300 communities throughout the country, and as a result, Esperanza has become the largest lenders to the poorest of the poor. The Major League Baseball Players Trust awarded its $50,000 grant to Esperanza in April 2009, and will contribute another $50,000 in April 2010. Since 2006, Major League baseball players have committed $200,000 through the Trust to support Banks of Hope. Through the Players Trust, Major Leaguers contribute their time, money and celebrity to call attention to important causes affecting the needy and to help encourage others to get involved in their own communities. For more information on the Major League Baseball Players Trust, please visit www.mlbplayers.com or visit the Players Trust channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/MLBPlayersTrust. |
23 September 2009 - The Major League Baseball Players Trust and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Major League Baseball Dominican Development Alliance (MLB-DDA), announced their donation of US$100,000 to launch a micro-credit program in Villa Mella and Guaricanos in northern Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on September 23, 2009.Click on Icon Below to Donate to MLB-DDA through Dominican Foundation
