it's official. building a future is the honduran community project winner!

The results are in and after a week of voting for which community volunteer project I'll work with in Honduras, 49% of you voted for Building a Future!

Big thank yous to everyone who took the time to peek at the five final contenders and vote, Visit Honduras for playing along on this interactive adventure, and new friends I've met during the voting process via the fantastic world of social media.

Fingers (and toes) crossed that The Global Citizen Project gets fully funded by February 22, 2010 so I can go to Tegucigalpa and make this volunteer project a reality. Right now, I'm at $2,281 (11%) and have 69 days to go. So, please, if you want to help send me to Tegucigalpa, consider making a small donation. Every little bit counts. Thank you and have a great Tuesday!

the top five picks for my honduran community project are in. please vote.

Alright! Let the real fun begin. My top five picks for which community projects to volunteer with in Honduras as part of The Global Citizen Project are posted on the Visit Honduras Facebook Fan Page and it's up to you to vote which one I will participate in.

Since I know you probably don't have spare time play Nancy Drew and investigate what each of these organizations does, I've made it easy for you with a quick blurb about each one and link to its website (if you wish to learn more - I strongly encourage you to do so). Thank you again for all the project suggestions! I really appreciate your input and collaboration on this project. Each and everyone project suggested is a worthwhile endeavor and it was tricky to narrow it down to only five. I am confident that no matter which project you choose for me, that it will make a huge impact in the community it serves. So thank you, please vote, and if you feel inclined, pass the word along.

Here are the five Honduran community project contenders:

Building a Future
It is Building a Future's mission is to transform communities by promoting the educational and social development of underprivileged children in Honduras.

Honduras Outreach, Inc.
Honduras Outreach is a non-denomination, Christian organization dedicated to building life-changing relationships between the people of the Olancho department of Honduras and caring North Americans and other nationalities. The Honduran government had previously identified Olancho as an area with one of the highest concentrations of infant mortality, and poverty. The median rural family income is less than $400 and 68 of 1,000 children die before reaching age five.

Clinica Esperanza
Specializes in providing health care to the people of Sandy Bay and surrounding areas. They serve 1,000 patients per month; 60% are children. They rely on 150+ volunteers annually to help operate their 4,500 sq. ft. facility.

Hands to Honduras
The Hands to Honduras Tela Program is a partnership program bringing together North American and Honduran communities to provide educational, technical, cultural, and humanitarian assistance to the Atlántida coastal region.

Helping Honduras Kids
Helping Honduras Kids' mission is to improve the lives of orphaned, abandoned, abused and/or neglected children on the North Coast of Honduras.

top five tuesday. vote for my honduras volunteer project tomorrow.

My apologies for being uncharacteristically quiet today. Monday’s are always tricky with deadlines and a late (but festive, fun and delicious) dinner soiree last evening didn’t help with the get-up-and-go efforts this morning.

It's been another great day for The Global Citizen Project (76 days to go!) and the positive feedback and generous pledges keep rolling in. Thank you so much to everyone who's pledged, passed the word along, or taken a few minutes to read my blog. I need all the collaborative love I can get to make this project happen and I appreciate every single contribution.

Here are some of the people who've helped today:

Gadling, one of my fave travel blogs, retweeted information about The Global Citizen Project today. I especially love getting online love from people, places and peers I resepct the heck out of. So, thanks!

I received a generous $100 pledge from Cathey, the writer gal and wanderluster behind the blog Mischief & Impermanent Bliss (thoughtful writing, music musings and beautiful travel pix). She has a Peruvian background, a penchant for Latin America, specifically Peru, and if she lived in the PacNW, I have a feeling we'd hang out and have all sorts of writerly fun. Just saying.

I was also contacted by Sasha Peakall, the founder of OnURWayTravel, a site geared towards encouraging young travelers to explore the world. She’s launching a new e-magazine in January 2010 and plans to feature an article on The Global Citizen Project. Thak you, Sasha! Looking forward to it. I am all about encouraging young minds to participate in the world wide classroom and embrace volunteer travel.

Lastly, do you know what tomorrow is? It's the day when my top five volunteer projects in Honduras are posted on the Visit Honduras Facebook Fan Page and you get to vote for which one I participate in. The winning project will be announced next week, so please take a second to learn about this worthwhile organizations and programs and tell me what you think. Once the projects are officially announced, I promise to Tweet information about each of the programs (so if you're not following me on Twitter, please do @global_gourmet). Thanks!

That wraps it up for this chilly Monday night. I'm going to make some tea, situate myself in front of the fireplace and write for the night. Here's hoping everybody's week is off to a good start!

honduras community project suggestions (so far)

As you know, Visit Honduras is helping The Global Citizen Project figure out which Honduran community project to participate in in 2010. The way it works is between now and midnight on Monday, December 7th, fans of Honduras Institute of Tourism's Facebook Fan Page are chiming in on what programs and organizations they deem worthy. I'm going to do some research and whittle the list down to my top five contenders. Then, the fans will get to vote and choose which project I will serve. Everyone has a say in what I do, so please don't hold back -- I want to hear from you.

Right now, here are the organizations in Honduras that have been suggested so far. Click on any of these to link to their website. If you cross paths with a community project you like, please leave a comment on the Fan Page before Monday, and then check back to vote for the final project.

Thanks again for taking an interest in my project. I'm delighted that you made a quick cyber stop on my blog!

Here you go:

Building a Future
Clinica Esperanza
Club de Safio
Cristo Salva
Hands to Honduras
Honduras Outreach, Inc.
Robinell Mission Enterprises
SonLight Power, Inc.
The LAMB Institute