The PONA foundation is a family charitable organization and trust fund. The family members live in two different parts of the world, United States and Denmark. The charter members (the parents) decided to bring their grown-up children together, with their own families, twice a year to select a worthwhile cause (or causes) in which to help people willing to help themselves and others.
 The Start: The board members (or the immediate children) were invited to consider, research, and propose possible needs in which the foundation could help. The early projects were primarily financial contributions.
Family members became somewhat disenchanted with the act of simply donating money. Disappointments with the way organizational leaders distributed funds motivated the family to take a more active role and to look for projects that allowed for more of the funds to go directly to the projects and less to administration.
PONA in the DR: The family was introduced to the Dominican Republic in 2002. There they met and together traveled around the country to meet with orphanages, educational organizations, and to ask questions of leaders and employers. It became apparent to the family that there were many people that wanted good jobs but were simply so undereducated that they were not qualified to have the jobs they wanted.
 D.R. Orphanage: The family found two initial projects after visiting the D.R. The first was a small country all-boy orphanage. The boys had very little yet worked very hard. They had a small farm in which they grew crops and animals that served other orphanages in the country.
The whole of the PONA organization, parents, children and grandchildren spent Christmas at the orphanage with the children (and the mosquitoes) providing Christmas dinner, a new generator, and handing out small gifts.
This experience was extremely rewarding. The first hand-experience of working directly with the orphans helped inspire the family to try to find more projects where they could better know who and how they were helping.
 D.R. University Students: At that time, PONA selected 30 severely underprivileged yet motivated kids who held the belief that a college education would not only help themselves but their families, towns, and ultimately their country. The family also researched areas of need in the workforce and found that lawyers were plentiful but teachers, accountants, engineers, and tourist managers were in short supply.
PONA commit a full-ride scholarship for the 30 students. They also provided additional help for transportation, and sometimes additional family support, since many of the students were the primary bread-winners for their poor families; it was a burden for them to leave for university.
 Villa Flor de Cabrera: The family still felt somewhat unattached to both the project and the students although they really liked the program itself. They decided to look into building where they could more regularly come to monitor and work future projects and get to know more of the Dominican people and better understand the culture, traditions, and needs.
Villa Flor de Cabrera was build for two purposes: first, to be used as a regular meeting spot for the PONA organization and second, to use as a non-profit rental villa. All profits go to the Foundation and are spent on charitable projects.
 Cabrera Community Center: Many needs were discovered during the building process and hiring of staff for Villa Flor de Cabrera. The need to know English and computer skills is becoming a necessity for better employment for the Dominicans as the country is rapidly growing in the tourism industry. Currently there is a huge discrepancy for the number of qualified employees that understand and can provide quality service. Small business owners need a better understanding of budgets, management, and negotiations so they can better flourish. People with technical skills, such as electricians, plumbers and mechanics, are in extraordinarily high demand.
It was evident to the PONA organization that training and education was still the best way for them to help. However, after getting to know the city of Cabrera and the hopes and dreams of so many of the people, the organization voted to establish a Community based institute for learning in the city itself that could provide classes and workshops for Cabrera and the surrounding areas for anyone motivated to learn.
The PONA institute building is in the center of Cabrera on the top two floors of one of the only 3-story buildings in town. Beginning in March of 2007, it will begin to provide English and Computer skill classes.
The PONA Foundation will supply quality teachers, an environment maximized for learning, scholarship opportunities, supplies, and technology resources and books. Review of the first two programs will determine future, but the current “wish-list” of courses includes:
- English Programs
- Computer and Internet skills Programs
- Cooking classes
- Service Provider Training
- Business Classes
- And scholarship/mentorship opportunities for people motivated to go into a technical trade.
If you are interested in a tour of the PONA institute or would like more information regarding the charity or its current projects, contact owners@flordecabrera.com.
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