Helping the Samba Team in the time of COVID-19
Donation protected
This is Heather Blenkiron writing to you. As I am based in Canada, the GoFundMe platform would only allow me to raise funds in Canadian dollars. I found that this might be too confusing, and asked Laura Sebastianelli, to set up the account in the USA. She has kindly accepted to host this fundraiser for me.
As I mentioned in the newsletter sent to you by email, the Samba team (9 crew members, 4 office staff and 3 principal naturalist guides) have suddenly found themselves completely out of work - indefinitely - due to COVID-19. While the family that owns the ship is doing what it can to help, it is also without income.
The Samba team has constantly received near perfect accolades from all of our guests on the Active Galapagos trip. The captain, the cook, the panga drivers, ... all have been singled out.
Mike Sieracki and Laura Sebastianelli, husband and wife guests who travelled this past December/January, suggested that we try to raise some funds for the Samba team.
The ship owner has advised us that $500/month is a reasonable amount to cover the food costs for a Samba team member and his/her immediate family.
Since 2015, CNH Tours hosted over 1,100 people on a Samba Active Galapagos trip. Though some were children, most were adults. While we recognize that some may not be able to participate, or that you might have other priorities, we do hope that most will be able to help.
We hope you can help us reach that objective by June 20th. Ideally, you will pull out your credit card and contribute at this very moment. All funds raised through this campaign will be deposited equitably in the personal accounts of the Samba team. Laura Sebastianelli will withdraw GoFundMe funds into the US bank account that she set up exclusively for this campaign. She will wire the funds to CNH Tours who will transfer the funds to the Samba owners. They will distribute the funds to the crew and staff in Ecuador. We use this mechanism because CNH tours has trusted relationships with former guests, and a long-term business relationship with the Samba owners. CNH Tours will post the final results on our website by the end of June and all transactions will be certified by a professional chartered accountant.
For more infomation
We've provided more detailed information at our website here: https://www.cnhtours.com/support-for-the-samba-team/
About us
This campaign is organized by me, Heather Blenkiron, with support from my husband, Marc Patry. We are the owners of CNH Tours. We have been chartering the Samba for 17 years.
(Note: Active Galapagos Alumni, Mike Sieracki & Laura Sebastianelli, have set up the GoFundMe Campaign for us in the US, so that we can fundraise using US$ currency, which is the currency used in Ecuador. As I mentioned, CNH Tours will post the final results on our website by the end of June and all transactions will be certified by a professional chartered accountant.)
As I mentioned in the newsletter sent to you by email, the Samba team (9 crew members, 4 office staff and 3 principal naturalist guides) have suddenly found themselves completely out of work - indefinitely - due to COVID-19. While the family that owns the ship is doing what it can to help, it is also without income.
The Samba team has constantly received near perfect accolades from all of our guests on the Active Galapagos trip. The captain, the cook, the panga drivers, ... all have been singled out.
Mike Sieracki and Laura Sebastianelli, husband and wife guests who travelled this past December/January, suggested that we try to raise some funds for the Samba team.
The ship owner has advised us that $500/month is a reasonable amount to cover the food costs for a Samba team member and his/her immediate family.
Since 2015, CNH Tours hosted over 1,100 people on a Samba Active Galapagos trip. Though some were children, most were adults. While we recognize that some may not be able to participate, or that you might have other priorities, we do hope that most will be able to help.
We hope you can help us reach that objective by June 20th. Ideally, you will pull out your credit card and contribute at this very moment. All funds raised through this campaign will be deposited equitably in the personal accounts of the Samba team. Laura Sebastianelli will withdraw GoFundMe funds into the US bank account that she set up exclusively for this campaign. She will wire the funds to CNH Tours who will transfer the funds to the Samba owners. They will distribute the funds to the crew and staff in Ecuador. We use this mechanism because CNH tours has trusted relationships with former guests, and a long-term business relationship with the Samba owners. CNH Tours will post the final results on our website by the end of June and all transactions will be certified by a professional chartered accountant.
For more infomation
We've provided more detailed information at our website here: https://www.cnhtours.com/support-for-the-samba-team/
About us
This campaign is organized by me, Heather Blenkiron, with support from my husband, Marc Patry. We are the owners of CNH Tours. We have been chartering the Samba for 17 years.
(Note: Active Galapagos Alumni, Mike Sieracki & Laura Sebastianelli, have set up the GoFundMe Campaign for us in the US, so that we can fundraise using US$ currency, which is the currency used in Ecuador. As I mentioned, CNH Tours will post the final results on our website by the end of June and all transactions will be certified by a professional chartered accountant.)
Fundraising team: CNH Tours & Active Galapagos alumni (3)
Laura Sebastianelli
Organizer
Alexandria, VA
Marc Patry
Team member
Mike Sieracki
Team member