Hearts & Hands Foundation
Box 8729 T1W 0B9 Canmore, AB, Canada

Despite overwhelming challenges presented by COVID-19, our staff in Guatemala continue to work with their partners to enhance the education of elementary students in Mayan communities. Bravo.

To Our Loyal Supporters, It has been a long year and the pandemic has changed the world in which we live. Predictions of when we will return to a new normal are uncertain at best. The situation in Guatemala is particularly challenging. The demand for more services from charities like Hearts & Hands has ballooned. We have managed to sustain our programs and pay our staff while at the same time trying to meet the needs of many families in San Andres Sajcabaja and Solala’. T...he schools are closed and currently the communities are full of COVID-19 with little hope of a vaccine any time soon. The only answer for the Mayan people is through vaccine donations from developed countries. Hearts & Hands marked its seventeenth year in Guatemala on January 25, 2021. When I started on this path in 2002, I never envisioned the impact that Hearts & Hands would have in Guatemala. Without a doubt, those of you who have walked with me and shared my passion for the Mayan families have been vital to our existence. This past year, Hearts & Hands has been able to provide additional help to some communities by providing masks, food, and thermometers to the Uspantan Fire department. The need is great as some families have no income because they have lost their crops due to too much rain and are quarantined in their homes. Online classes are great when possible, but only 11% of the families have the Internet. We have provided wi-fi to some of our scholarship students so they can stay current with their studies. Especially in San Andres Sajcabaja, the families live in very rural areas and are isolated and without food. The dedication and work effort of our Corazones e Manos staff is outstanding. They are heroes. But our ability to fundraise has been limited and we are struggling to meet our operating costs. We ask for your support to continue our work with the Mayan people of Guatemala. Please consider a donation today to The Hearts and Hands Foundation. Go to our website heartshands.ca to find out how you can support us in this time of great need. Wishing everyone good health, Jan Townsend, Executive Director and Founder Hearts & Hands Foundation

It's tax time! A few of our generous supporters have not provided their contact information, so we can't send a tax receipt. If you may be one of them, please email Jan Townsend at [email protected] and hopefully we can sort it out!

Our work goes on in Guatemala despite the challenges posed by a world-wide pandemic.

A proud moment for one of our staff members in Guatemala. Congratulations Bety!

As 2020 is slowly coming to a close, the Hearts & Hands Foundation looks back over this past year with gratitude despite the issues we faced during the pandemic. When I had to cancel the March 2020 trip, the unknown was frightening. Like everyone else, I did not have any idea when things would return to normal, and I would once again be on my way to Guatemala. It has been a struggle, but with the support of the Board of Directors, and especially the Friends of Hearts & Hands ...Continue reading

We're excited about this amazing event soon to be underway in Canmore! For many years, we have partnered with the Canmore Rotary Club to build classrooms and improve schools in Guatemala, and to increase literacy by developing textbooks in the Mayan language. Thanks to Rotary funding and federal and provincial government grants totalling more than $600,000 over five years, we have significantly improved education for many Guatemalan children. Be sure to take in the Festival of Trees this year, and look for a display about the ongoing partnership between the Hearts & Hands Foundation and the Rotary Club of Canmore.

One more fundraiser this year: our popular Christmas Greenery sale. These beautiful items would be perfect gifts for friends, family or clients. Top quality balsam fir wreaths or centerpieces - or new this year, poinsettias - are shipped fresh from Nova Scotia to any address in Canada. Locally, volunteers from Hearts & Hands and the Rotary Club of Calgary West will deliver your purchase free of charge in Calgary and nearby communities (no rural addresses). Proceeds support ou...r ongoing work in Guatemala. Please check out http://rotarywestfundraising.ca/ for more info and to order. Please note: The Rotary Club of Calgary West is kindly partnering with us to offer this fundraiser. When you come to the final billing page, type in Hearts & Hands under Proceeds of Sale. Otherwise, the profit will default to the Rotary Club (not that that would be a really bad thing, but still . . . ) Thank you for your wonderful support of the Hearts & Hands Foundation of Canmore!

Thank you Canmore for supporting our Gently Used Item Sale over the weekend! We raised about $2500 for the Mayan people of Guatemala (and helped more than a few people purge their closets!) It was a lot of fun and we appreciate everyone who volunteered, donated and attended. A special mention to the Friends of Hearts & Hands committee for organizing this event and other important fundraising initiatives for our organization.