Friends of the Dominican Republic

American University Library Ready

to receive Donations to the Friends of the Dominican Republic Section of the Peace Corps Community Archives

Following a move to a new location last year, the American University Library is again ready to accept donations to the Friends of the Dominican Republic Section of the Peace Corps Community Archives. The library reopened in October of 2017 and the Assistant Archivist, Leslie Nellis, is excited about expanding the FDR section of the PC Community Archives with new donations from FDR’s members.

The first two donations to the Friends of the Dominican Republic Section of American University’s Peace Corps Community Archive s were made by Geer Wilcox and Kim Herman in 2016. FDR sent out information packets to several DR-RPCVs in 2016 and 2017 and we are encouraging all members that are interested in donating their letters, diaries, photographs and other written materials to request the information materials about how to make a donation. If you’re from the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, ‘80’s or even the ‘90’s, now is the time to think about protecting your collection before it gets scattered, lost or destroyed. Thousands of RPCVs from other countries have already donated to the Archives but only two of us from the DR are in the collection! We need more DR contributors so our unique part of Peace Corps’ history isn’t lost.

For those of you who requested the donation materials for the Archives last year, now is the time to complete the organization of your materials so you can donate them to the FDR Section of the Archives. However, please note, the address for sending materials to the AU Library has changed, so contact president@fotdr.org to get the new address before you send you materials!

If you haven’t asked for the information about how to donate your collection of PC materials to the PC Community Archives at AU, just send an email to president@fotdr.org and you will receive the donation materials electronically by return email. Not only will your materials be available for your children, your family and your heirs, it will be shared with generations of researchers and authors for years to come.

Opportunities to Become Involved with Friends of the Dominican Republic (FDR)

In addition to FDR’s two grant programs, FDR offers a variety of services for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and staff members who served in the DR. These include a database of former DR Volunteers and PC staff members ; La Voz, a regular electronic newsletter; assistance with Professional Development-Networking for Volunteers leaving the DR at the end of their service; and opportunities to work on several FDR projects such as the Community Challenge Fund; the DR In-Country Committee/Program Support Fund; Third Goal Program; the Communications-Website-Social Media Committee; the History Committee; the Membership Committee; the Growth Committee; and, the Fundraising Committee. For more information about these projects and committees, contact the president@fotdr.org.

FRIENDS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

“We connect our Peace corps community to promote appreciation of and service to the people of the Dominican Republic”

Friends of the Dominican Republic (FDR), is a non-profit group made up primarily of former Peace Corps Volunteers who have served in the Dominican Republic. Through two of our primary programs we provide small grants to support projects and programs involving current Peace Corps Volunteers and the Dominican people with whom they work. We do this through two FDR program funds- the Community Challenge Fund and the Program Support Fund- supported with donations from our members and others. Each fund has a different emphasis and they are designed to complement each other. A description of each program can be found under the “Programs” drop down tab above.

Winners of the Second History Committee Short Story Contest

FDR is happy to announce the winners of the Second History Committee Short Story contest that was held last year.

The First Place Winner was Jim Shrefler, who served in the DR from 1977 through 1979. Jim’s story, El Manicero, was selected by a committee of readers who did not know the identity of the author. As the First Place Winner, Jim received a check from FDR in the amount of $100.

The Second Place Winner was Dr. Ron Billings, who served in the DR from 1966 through 1967. Ron’s story, Recollections of a Forestry Volunteer, gave a glimpse of his early work in the DR in Forestry, one of the early PC/DR programs. As the Second Place Winner, Ron received a check from FDR in the amount of $75.

The History Committee will be making a decision soon about holding a Third Short Story Contest in 2019. Watch for information in future issues of La Voz.

2018 Annual Report

Friends of the Dominican Republic had a year of change in 2018, primarily due to changes in the program focus of Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, where they moved to a focus on Education programs, Youth and Economic Development. As a result, we saw a change in the number of applications that were submitted for the Community Challenge Fund (CCF), which we reflected in our fundraising efforts at the end of the year. Another change for us was the election of Alanna Hughes to the FDR Board in January. Alanna served from 2008-2010 in Vicentillo, El Seibo. Our officers for the year included Kim Herman, President; Peter Hainley, Vice President; John Evans, Treasurer; Randy Mauer, Secretary; and, Janice Jorgensen, Membership Director. Other board members included John Epler, Guy Baehr, James Shrefler, Susan Stine, Christorpher MacAlpine-Belton, Bronwen Raff, Topher Vollmer, Tim Durigan and Christina Houtz.

Read full 2018 report here

Read 2017 report here

Make a gift

Please consider aiding development projects in the Dominican Republic.

For other ways to contribute, see our Make a Gift page.

FDR is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Your donation is tax deductible.

Renew Membership
Consider renewing your membership with FDR and supporting our mission and programs. If you are registered, login and go to the "FDR Members" (which will appear on the top of this page once you login). You will be able to make a secure online payment. If you have not registered, you may do so here.

Connect

Living in the DR?

If you are living in the DR, we would like to invite you to become involved with FDR through the Dominican Republic Committee. This committee acts as a liaison between FDR and Peace Corps DR and provides management and oversight to the Program Support Fund. If interested in committee work or are just interested in connecting with FDR in the DR, contact Guy Baehr at DRCommittee AT fotdr.org.