Previously Funded Community Grants

To date, Full Basket Belize has funded more than 88 projects for the benefit of Belize and Belizeans. These community-based projects have reached every corner and needy sector of the country and have been implemented by hard-working villagers seeking to improve their homes and environments.  Read about some of these projects below.

Full Basket Belize’s 2023 Community Grants

ORGANIZATION	GRANT TITLE/PROJECT	LOCATION	PURPOSE OF GRANT
Our Lady of Guadalupe H.S.	Broiler Raising	Belmopan, Cayo District	To provide the student population of 290 with the knowledge of rearing simple backyard broiler chickens and show the production of chickens from start to finish. This project is to be self-sustaining by using the revenues earned to replenish the stock to begin a new cycle.
Mahogany Heights Village	Community Center Refurbishments	Mahogany Heights Village, Cayo District	To fully restore the village’s Community Center, the hub for 1500 residents, both children and adults. The restoration includes a properly functioning restroom, chairs, tables, painting, electrical, and structural repairs on walls and doors.
Cornerstone Foundation Belize	Domestic Violence Prevention	San Ignacio, Cayo District	To serve and empower the women of domestic violence living in impoverished surrounding areas by enabling them to develop a sense of financial independence through their skills of sewing benefiting them and their children.
San Antonio Village Council	Football Field Fencing	San Antonio Village, Corozal District	To fence the football field and repair the lighting for proper and safe use during tournaments and other events that benefit youths. The project is most important to avoid the destruction to the football field by vehicles and livestock.
St. Benedict R.C. School	School Garden Fencing	Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District	To fence in the school’s garden to prevent animal and human disturbances as well as prevent soil erosion. The school garden serves as one of the school’s laboratories where students learn plant germination, food production, and food sustainability.
San Jose Succotz R.C. School	Preschool Playground	San Jose Succotz, Cayo District	To restore the preschool playground by replacing decayed lumber, painting structures, and building a roof to protect the playground from the elements of the weather. The restoration of the playground will provide students with a safe area where they can have fun participating in outdoor activities.
Hillside Health Care International	Public Healthcare Workshops	Punta Gorda Town, Toledo District	To provide training workshops for 24 participants with the purpose of improving and maintaining health, wellness, and knowledge about disease prevention among the 12 underserved remote communities in the Toledo district.
T.R.E.E.S.	Regenerative Agriculture Education	Middlesex Village, Stann Creek District	To provide at-risk youths the training and skills needed for organic farming, trail maintenance, ecology, and environmental education.
Compassion School	School Infrastructure Improvements	Yo Creek Village, Orange Walk District	To enable the completion and furnishing for all classrooms including painting of the exterior of the school, installation of new picnic tables, and printing and hanging of educational vinyl banners.
San Lucas Primary School	School Solar Power	San Lucas Village, Toledo District	To improve the school’s overall benefit to its students, staff, and parents by painting the outside of the school, completing the furnishing of the classrooms, and installing new picnic tables for breaks and study.
King’s College	Tilapia Farming	Belize City, Belize District	To introduce students to aquafarming by providing the education and skills needed to grow tilapia from fingerlings to fully grown fish. This includes the economics and marketing for revenue as well as a source of food.

2022 Community Grants

Organization	Grant Title/Project	Location	Purpose of Grant
San Miguel R.C. School	Bathroom renovation at San Miguel R.C. School	San Miguel Village, Toledo	To make repairs to dilapidated school bathrooms utilized by about 140 students and 6 teachers
Santa Cruz R.C. School	Solar Power Saves the Environment	Santa Cruz Village, Toledo	To replace the non-functioning solar system inverter in the school’s solar system which is necessary to run the school’s printer, laptops, and lights as the village does not have electricity or internet service.
Rotary Club of Punta Gorda	Emergency first response training for Punta Gorda Police Formation	Punta Gorda Town, Toledo	To provide the Punta Gorda Police Formation with “Emergency First Responder” training to enable the Police who are first on the scene of a crime or accident to offer immediate Emergency First Aid.
San Jose R.C. School	Flush Away Your Cares and Woes	San Jose Village, Toledo	To replace 4 flush toilets, pipes and all fittings and repaint bathroom facilities to address leakage problems and provide more healthy and pleasant bathrooms for students
Pathlight Belize	The Belize Girls Who Code Initiative: Opening Doors for Careers in STEM	Belmopan City, Belize	To offer online training on the Basics of Coding to 60 high school girls from underserved populations across the country.
Southern Peoples Movement	After School Student Tutorial Programme	Punta Gorda Town, Toledo	To provide after-school educational assistance in reading, writing, and arithmetic to under-privileged primary school students.
Peini Treasure Trove’s Learning Center	Encouraging Early Literacy Skills	Punta Gorda Town, Toledo	To provide culturally relevant and effective parent training to promote the development of early literacy skills in young children and to improve early childhood reading and writing skills for more successful school performance
King’s College	New School Bathroom Project	Belize City, Belize	To construct new bathroom facilities serving approximately 110 students and contributing to a healthy and safe educational environment
Orange Walk Youth Home of Hope (OWYHH)	Backyard Gardening Initiative	Orange Walk Town, Orange Walk	To provide life skill lessons for the residents at the OWYHH by helping them to develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills while learning how to be more self-sufficient with the knowledge of growing their own food. Residents will learn how to develop and successfully run a backyard garden from the start of creating the garden, to taking care of it, to budgeting and selling their harvest.

COMPASSION SCHOOL (2021)
Yo Creek Village – Orange Walk District

• Fix/replace a door and 10 wooden windows
• Buy a water vat as a secondary source of water
• Purchase a heavy duty copier to assist with student lessons

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SANTA TERESA Parent Teacher Association (2021)
Santa Teresa Village – Toledo District

• Electrify 8 classrooms – using renewable solar energy 
  • Each classroom will have at least two bulbs and two outlets so that the teachers can use computers/ television for teaching/learning
  • Light needed in each classroom during cloudy or rainy days or when in use as a hurricane shelter

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SANTA CRUZ RC SCHOOL (2021)
Santa Cruz Village – Toledo District

• Replace the teachers’ crumbling and leaking bathroom toilets
• Install 3 hand washing stations with connecting PVC pipe for the classrooms as required by Ministry of Education COVID-19 precautions

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TOLEDO ECOTOURISM ASSOCIATION (TEA) (2021)
Punta Gorda Town – Toledo District

• Complete the construction of bathrooms
  • Furnish and install flush toilets and sinks to make the guesthouse more functional

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HOLY FAMILY RC SCHOOL (2021)
Hopkins Village – Stann Creek District

• Remodel and expand the school’s kitchen space so healthier student lunches can be provided

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TEMASH RIVER CHALLENGE COMMITTEE (2021)
Punta Gorda Town – Toledo District

• Collect trash from the river
  • Record the volume of it in order to increase awareness of pollution in natural waterways
• Replant trees and vegetation along the river
  • Stabilize riverbanks and create a natural buffer that will help filter runoff and prevent erosion

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SAN BENITO POITE RC SCHOOL (2021)
San Benito Poite – Toledo District

• Create and maintain a school garden
  • Teach students to grow vegetables, who will, in turn, teach their families
  • Strengthen school feeding program 

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SAN JOSE SUCCOTZ RC SCHOOL (2021)
San Jose Succotz – Cayo District

• Replace deteriorated roofing of the school shed which is currently used as a multipurpose facility for for students to have their lunch or snacks, study area, outdoor instruction, and meeting area
  • Improvements will directly benefit 350 students and various youth groups from San Jose Succotz 

Barranco Village Council (2020):
With their FBB grant, the Barranco Village Council will renovate their dilapidated and currently non-functioning village community center. Once renovated, the community center can once again be an important asset for residents by fostering social connections. The Council plans to use the renovated facility to host cultural events, after-school activities for children, and economic opportunities for local artists, crafts people, and food vendors.

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Punta Gorda Methodist School (2020):
Citing specific challenges with the their infants 1 classroom and their kitchen, Punta Gorda Methodist School will use their FBB grant to make needed repairs to their facilities. Repairing the classroom will allow the teacher to better utilize the room for both education and play by including a reading library and a game area. And the kitchen, which has been closed for over a year, will begin to start serving meals again to students that live too far to travel home for lunch and others who would otherwise not have a meal provided.

Images are before and after photos of corroding window doors and newly installed window louvers. Image directly above is a volunteer cementing in the new window louvers.

The Punta Gorda Methodist School, located in the heart of Punta Gorda, educates 180 area children from pre-school to Standard 6 every year. However, due to deterioration, some parts of the school facilities were not safe for use, limiting the activities and services they were able to provide. With their grant from Full Basket Belize, they have been able to replace windows and shutters in their pre-school classroom, allowing more sunlight into the room and, importantly, making it safe to resume use of the game area of their classroom. Next up is repairs to their kitchen, which has been closed for almost two years due to unsafe conditions. Thanks to the contributions of our generous donors, volunteers will complete repairs to the kitchen before in-person classes resume, allowing the school to restart their school lunch program for students in need. The impact of this work will surely be felt even more than we could have imagined prior to the pandemic.

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San Pedro Columbia Roman Catholic School (2020):
The San Pedro Columbia RC School will be using their FBB grant to address a significant health concern in their school. The school’s roof is infested with bats, creating unhealthy conditions for the students. As a result, students, teachers, and staff frequently become sick and miss school or simply stay away from the school because it is unhealthy. After removing the bats and their feces, the school will make necessary repairs to the roof to prevent future infestations.

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PathLight International (2020):
Pathlight International runs the Toledo Teacher Resource Center at the District Educational Center in Punta Gorda. Targeting eight schools in the district, Pathlight will use their FBB grant to train teachers to use hands-on tools that can aid students in math, language arts, and science. The grant will also allow Pathlight to increase the amount of these hands-on tools available for teachers to borrow and use in their classrooms.

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Santa Cruz Roman Catholic School (2020):

Santa Cruz is a small Mayan village where most students enter elementary school speaking Mopan Mayan and often struggle and fall behind with English as they move through school. With their FBB grant, teachers at the school conduct a literacy program targeting those learning English as a second language using a range of new tools for both teachers and students in the classroom.

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Eden SDA High School, Santa Elena, Cayo District (2019): Eden High School is the first organization to be award two grants in a single year.  With support of FBB, Eden High School will expand its book lending program to twenty additional students this year. Because books are not free for students, it is not uncommon for as little as 6 students in a class of 32 to have their textbook at Eden.

The book lending program was started by teachers and staff to provide books to students in need.  The results have been dramatic with improved grades and performance on national exams as well as a corresponding reduction in dropout rates.  The beauty of the program is that books are returned at the end of each year to be lent out again the following year, so the impact is felt for years to come.

Always looking for ways to support their students, teachers and staff were able to purchase two computers and staff a computer lab for their rural students (65% of the student body) who do not have computer or internet access in their villages last year.  The result was their dropout rate fell from 6.7% to 4.8% and the number of classes students failed dropped from 16.8% to 10.5%.  With their second FBB Community Grant, they will add two more computers to their lab, doubling access to the tools students need to succeed in school.

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Hillside Health Care, Toledo District (2019): Hillside Health Care, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, will train its community health workers in motivational interviewing to help strengthen the health education provided throughout southern Belize. The goal is to increase the willingness to seek health care service to better detect and ultimately prevent non-communicable diseases. This effort is in response to the increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Belize in recent years, such as diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, with heart disease and diabetes the country’s leading causes of mortality.

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Community Nursing Aid Clinic, Frank’s Eddy Village, Cayo District (2019): In the small rural village of Frank’s Eddy, beside a monthly mobile clinic, access to health care is a challenge. The closest available health providers are ten miles away in Belmopan. In a village where very few own vehicles (most rely on public transportation), accessing medical services when they are needed is a significant problem. To address this situation, FBB is providing funding to help a group of community nurses work with the Village Council to renovate and repair an abandoned and dilapidated health post in the village. Once restored, the nurses will be able to provide health services directly in the community.

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Plenty Belize, Jacintoville, Toledo District (2019): Jacintoville is an East Indian community outside of Punta Gorda Town.  It is one of the few small villages that does not have its own primary school.  Additionally, it does not have a playground, library, or any space for youth after school.  With this grant from FBB, Plenty Belize will upgrade the village’s community center to create a space where youth do homework, study, work on collaborative projects, and access books. Additionally, Plenty will train a high school student to assist primary students that utilize the new space.

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PathLight International, Toledo District (2019): Far too many students in Belize are one to three grade levels behind in reading proficiency, particularly in the Toledo District.  PathLight will train 25 Toledo District high school teachers to assess reading proficiency and conduct an evidence-based reading intervention program to help students catch up.  With this grant, PathLight will be able to assess 450 students in five Toledo District high schools and provide them with an 8-week course to help accelerate their learning.

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Santa Clara Village Council, Corozal District (2019):   The Santa Clara Village Council will work with two local schools, the agricultural officer, and marketing officer to run a school garden project at each school.  80 students will gain skills in organic gardening, nutrition, marketing, and the environment.  Additionally, the program will help youth develop leadership skills, get physical activity, and potentially generate supplemental income for their families.

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ReefKeeper Belize, Stann Creek and Cayo Districts (2019):   ReefKeeper will use its FBB grant to provide classroom lessons on marine environmental science to 200 students in both the Stann Creek and Cayo Districts.  Additionally, they will take 40 students on an experiential field trip to Salt Water, Tobacco, and other nearby cayes on the Belize Barrier Reef. The program seeks to increase awareness and stewardship of Belize’s marine ecosystem with a focus on the significant problem of plastics pollution.

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Mahogany Heights Health Post Improvements (2018):  The Belize Zoo & Tropical Education Center will be leading a project to improve the Health Post in nearby Mahogany Heights Village, Belize District. Adding electricity and running water to the building will expand the health services that can be provided to the community. Additionally, the community will be able to expand the secondary uses of the facility such as computer access and other social and educational programs.

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Book Lending Project (2018):  Eden High School in San Ignacio, Cayo District, plans to expand their book lending program. High school education is not free in Belize.  Students must purchase their own text books in addition to paying for tuition, fees, uniforms, transportation, etc.  Many students are unable to afford some or all of their books.  This impacts their academic success.  Eden High School, through donations from teachers and staff, started buying books they can lend to students in need.  The results have been dramatic. The school has seen their “failure and repetition” and dropout rates go down and seen better performance on national exams.  FBB’s grant will allow them to provide books to twenty more students this year (to reach a total of 70). Books are then returned and can be used to support students in following years as well, so this grant’s impact will be felt for years to come!

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Theodocio Ochoa Park Renovation (2018):  For the Children will be working with community members, including youth, to renovate and improve their dilapidated neighborhood park (Theodocio Ochoa Park in San Ignacio, Cayo District). Once completed, the restored park will provide a community hub to foster social connections (festivals and fairs), improve health (physical activity), and provide economic opportunities (food and art vendors).

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Summer Drum Camp for At-risk Students (2018):  Drums Not Guns in Punta Gorda, Toledo District, seeks to provide youth with positive social and economic opportunities through traditional drumming. Teaching participants how to make and play drums not only passes on local traditions, but also gives students marketable skills. Some past participants are in strong demand to perform at local events. Others have created small businesses selling drums to tourists.

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Garbage Clean-up and Education (2018):  Santa Teresita Village Council in Cayo District plans to address the village’s current problem of inadequate garbage disposal in the community. Their FBB grant will allow the Village Council to establish the infrastructure and services necessary to properly collect trash and transport it to an appropriate dump site. The project will reduce health risks in the community as well as plastic and other pollution entering the Belize Old River.

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Cultivation and Marketing of Organic Produce (2018):  Tropical Rainforest Institute of Belize (TRIBZ) located in Santa Elena, Cayo District, will create opportunities for marginalized women and girls through the cultivation and marketing of sustainably grown, organic produce. Participants will gain skills (and licenses and certificates where applicable) for food handling, master gardening, plant-based food prep, food processing technology, computers and graphic design, brand development, and business administration.

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Proactive Health Information for Inmates (2017):  The Kolbe Foundation provided HIV/AIDS and other chronic disease information to inmates at the Belize Central Prison (Belize District). The Foundation reported that 1179 inmates benefited from this program.

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Raising Rabbits (2017):   The Mopan Technical High School (Cayo District) agriculture teachers instructed students the necessary procedures for raising rabbits as a food source and/or for sale as pets.  Funds were used to build rabbit housing and provide other necessary equipment for the curriculum at the school.

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San Vicente Village Water Pipe Extension (2017):  The San Vicente Water Board (Toledo District) constructed pipelines to connect ten homes plus the new teachers’ house to the village water system.  This reduced health issues by providing safe, clean, and healthy drinking water to families.

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Household Farming for an Alternative Livelihood Option (2016):  The Hattieville Household Farming Group helped improve the livelihood of its members through household farming activities to generate income.

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Women’s Organic Solar Dried Fruit Production (2016):   The Toledo Women’s Food Security Group completed their indirect solar fruit dryer, enabling 24/7 production of dried fruit.  With the doubling of output, the income of fisher families was increased and the pressure on the Belize Barrier Reef decreased.

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Eco-Park Enhancements (2016):  The Trinidad Environmental Concerned Youth Group continued to expand their eco-park near Trinidad Village in Orange Walk District (see below for more information).

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Santa Ana Government Schools’ Garden and Feeding Program (2015):  Plenty Belize strengthened the Santa Ana Government School’s garden and feeding program by upgrading the school’s garden and incorporating an outdoor learning center in Santa Ana, a Ke’kchi Mayan village in Toledo district.

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Caribbean SEA Water and Sanitation Project on Ambergris Caye Part II (2014):  The group continued with the second phase of a project begun in 2013 and was highly successful.  See below for more information.

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Port Loyola Organization for Women (PLOW) (2014):  Approximately 100 young women aged 14-17 from ten different high schools on the south side of Belize City attended a two-day workshop entitled “Saving Our Daughters.”  The workshop was designed to empower, education, encourage, and enlighten young Belizean women by helping them to acquire the skills to become strong, independent women; to make the right choices in education; to learn how to say “NO;” and how to stay away or get out of abusive situations.

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Toledo Ecotourism Association (TEA) (2012):  For over twenty years, the Toledo Ecotourism Association has brought rural Mayan and Garifuna communities in southern Belize together to coordinate ecotourism activities in the region.  TEA used our grant to assist in the development and implementation of a sustainable development plan to help the region manage economic growth while preserving and conserving their biodiversity and cultural heritage.

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Mary Open Doors Presentations on Domestic Violence (2012):  This organization aims to empower and improve the well-being of women and children affected by domestic violence in the Cayo district.  With our backing, Mary Open Doors implemented a series of outreach presentations to educate teens and women in 32 rural, under-served communities about the link between domestic violence and HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves against both.

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Plenty Belize (2010):  Grant monies were used to purchase equipment for drying and preserving seeds.  This included a solar refrigerator and containers for seed storage.  In addition, the grant also funded training for Toledo district farmers in the practice of sowing and saving seed.  Visit https://plenty.org/programs/plenty-belize/ for more information on Plenty Belize.

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Reading is Fun (2010):  This project funded after-school reading programs, including materials and equipment for bilingual education at San Juan Bosco RC School.  The program was open to the school’s 322 students between the ages of 5 and 15.  This area, in the village of Cowpen, Stann Creek district, was in great need of English language materials and training.  With our help, the after-school program undertook community outreach, through the children, to promote the importance of bilingual education.

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Recycling Art and Education Program (2008):  The University of Belize in Belmopan sponsored this program.  Recycling was taught, and recycled items were turned into “objects d’arte.”

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Hummingbird Elementary After-school Chess Club (2007):  New chess sets, teaching materials, and a display board was furnished to the Belize Association of Chess Players for use at this school in Belize City.

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HIV/AIDS Drama Project with Youths pan di Move (2007):  With aid and direction from members of the Belize City Institute of Creative Arts, the youth group called “Youths pan di Move” (sponsored by the Cornerstone Foundation of Cayo) produced and performed a five-act play incorporating challenges faced by Belizean youth.  In addition to raising the awareness of HIV/AIDS, the play addressed issues such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and peer pressure.

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St. Alphonsus Elementary School Organic Gardening Project (2007):  Grant monies were used to construct a fence around the school’s organic garden located in Seine Bight Village in the Stann Creek district.  The garden provides organic produce for the school lunch program and provides the opportunity for students to learn about science and agriculture firsthand.

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Return to https://www.fullbasketbelize.org/community-grants.

last updated 10/28/2024 jl