Provide electricity to 500 students in Belize

After some delays in Belize Customs in March, all solar panels and ancillary equipment associated with our second 5KW solar PVC installation (Phase 2) arrived safely and securely at Holy Cross Anglican School. Items were carefully checked off the bill of lading to ensure that all components were accounted for. I accompanied an advanced team of volunteers in early April, who devoted considerable time to preparing the roofing surface with white reflective coat paint. I also reviewed our overall energy strategy with both a local expert and as part of a site visit from Global Giving staff member Lydia Sorensen (see pictures). We were very pleased that independent review re-affirmed that our plans to provide a farm generating at least 20KW using panel micro-inverters and net-metering was the best possible for our location.This means that we will be undertaking at least Phase 3 and 4 projects -- to grow the farm from what will soon be 10KW to at least 20KW -- hopefully in the next couple of years. We have an EXCITING opportunity in MATCHING funds to help finance this!! I provide more information below. At the same time, additional strategies including reducing energy consumption may be adopted -- after a more thorough energy audit is undertaken. You will be hearing more about these in upcoming reports. In the meantime, Baker Renewable Energy's (BRE) installation team will be leaving Raleigh this coming Sunday, April 20th and plans to complete the Phase 2 installation by the end of next week -- April 25-26 timeframe. Our next report will document the results of this exciting installation trip. Thank you to every donor that has contributed thus far.

I also wanted to update you on our current funding situation. Because of some unplanned expenses -- in particular a large GST Belizean tax bill that was unanticipated -- we are running about $5000 short to completely balance our "Phase 2" budget. But -- because we have recently qualified as a Microsoft YouthSpark Partner -- we can stretch our donations much farther than previously possible:

1) First, all new recurring donors will see their monthly donations matched at 100% for the first 3 months. It is easy to become a recurring donor on our Global Giving page -- just look on the right hand frame. If you are not already a recurring donor, your first 3-months donations will be DOUBLED and you can opt out after 3 months. And new recurring donations can be entered at any time, not just on a bonus day.

2) In addition, Wednesday, April 16th, beginning at NOON EDT, is a BONUS Day:

• The Microsoft YouthSpark Bonus Day will begin April 16th, 2014 at 12:00:01 PM (noon) EDT and will end April 17th, 2014, at 11:59:59 AM EDT, or when matching funds run out.
• There are $100,000 available in matching funds from Microsoft.
• Matching is applied at 50% for every donation from $10 up to $1,000 per donor per project/microproject.
• The project or micoproject that has the most unique donors on Microsoft YouthSpark's Bonus Day will receive an additional $10,000 prize from Microsoft.
• If you sign-up as a new recurring donor during Bonus Day and matching funds are still available, your donation will be increased by 150%!!
• BONUS Day funds often run out very quickly, for example, within the first 15 minutes of the campaign -- so if you really want the 150% match you will need to be ready right at Noon EDT/11AM CDT/10AM Belize time.

With these new matching funds opportunities, we believe we are well-positioned to finish balancing our Phase 2 budget and then fund Phases 3 and 4 going forward. We thank all who have given in the past and continue to support us in any way. Please do consider becoming a recurring donor if you are not already one -- at least for three months. And please do consider that at Noon tomorrow, new recurring donations will be matched by MicroSoft at 150%! With most sincere thanks to all from John and the Board of Holy Cross Education Foundation -- and the children and staff of Holy Cross Anglican School.