New U.S. Non-Profit Company Created to Support Bonaire

BONAIRE, N.A. & NORFOLK, VA, USA – September 24, 2001 – The Board of Directors of Support Bonaire, Inc. today formally unveiled the Support Bonaire, Inc. organization to the world via a new Web site located at http://www.SupportBonaire.org.

Support Bonaire, Inc. is a U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable corporation, which means that U.S. taxpayers who want to donate money to support social and environmental non-profit projects on Bonaire can now get a tax deduction for such donations by donating to Support Bonaire, Inc. Previously, U.S. taxpayers who donated to Bonairean charities were not legally permitted to deduct the amount of their donation from their U.S. tax returns, which typically meant that the size of the donations was smaller, or even that donations were not made.

The effort was initiated by Bonaire residents and American citizens, Jake and Linda Richter, who realized some time ago that Bonaire’s private sector and non-governmental organization (NGO) non-profit environmental and social organizations were not always able to raise the funds they needed for specific projects, due in part to the reluctance of American contributors to donate larger sums without being able to claim a tax benefit for such larger donations. After much research and work with specialized tax attorneys they determined that a U.S. non-profit corporation could be established to assist in both raising funds from fellow Americans, and supporting Bonairean environmental and social efforts. Thus Support Bonaire, Inc. was born.

The Richters searched for additional board members who had an interest in Bonaire and were qualified to participate. They managed to recruit Kalli DeMeyer, former Bonaire Marine Park manager; Jan Kloos, founding president of the Bonaire Nature Alliance; and Ben Buchbinder, a retired U.S. government employee. Together as a board, these five helped move Support Bonaire through the IRS qualification process, achieving 501(c)(3) status in late May 2001.

Over the course of the summer of 2001, the board put together various materials to assist Bonaire non-profit organizations (which must be established as Stichtings or Fundashons – the Bonaire equivalent of a non-profit corporation – in order to qualify for assistance) in applying for project grants through Support Bonaire, Inc., as well as materials to help potential donors understand more about the organization and how their donations would be used. All of these materials, as well as extensive background information, are available on the Support Bonaire, Inc. Web site at http://www.SupportBonaire.org.

The Web site also includes a link to a new section on the popular BonaireTalk Web site, where both non-profit groups as well as potential donors and group supporters can get together and discuss various projects and funding issues. The Support Bonaire section of BonaireTalk also allows Bonaire’s non-profits to post requests for volunteers in specific areas, such as Web site design, accounting, veterinary skills, and education, among others, and potential volunteers who may be coming to Bonaire to offer their services to help those organizations.

There is also an on-line sign up at the Web site to a new newsletter Support Bonaire will be publishing on a semi-regular basis to share news about new projects, ask for input, and act as a matchmaker between donors of particular services and Bonaire non-profits needing those services.

To keep costs down, all of Support Bonaire, Inc.’s fund raising efforts will be done electronically, via the Web site and via e-mail, although donations will certainly be accepted by mail at the organization’s mailing address.

It should be noted that while it is understandable that fund raising abilities of Support Bonaire, Inc. will be limited due to the terrible attacks in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania on September 11th, the organization decided not to further delay launch of their Web site because Support Bonaire, Inc. would like to at least make potential donors and potential grantees aware of the organization’s existence and its ability to provide both funding for qualified Bonairean non-profits, as well a tax deductible means for U.S. taxpayers to make that funding possible, both now and in the future.

Support Bonaire, Inc. is an organization dedicated to helping fund non-profit environmental and social projects on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, by being a U.S. Internal Revenue Service-approved non-profit organization, which in turn allows donors to take a tax deduction on funds they donate to Support Bonaire, Inc. Support Bonaire, Inc.’s virtual offices can be found at http://www.SupportBonaire.org. The organization’s mailing address for donations and other paper correspondence is 109 E. Main Street, Suite 400, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1647, U.S.A. Voice mail can be left at +1-703-783-1314, and FAXes can be sent to +1-703-783-1315. Contact via e-mail is preferred, at info@SupportBonaire.org.

-- 30 --

[Press Releases] [Newsletters]

Copyright © 2001-2008 by Support Bonaire, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.