Giving Back
Our first social responsibility is to look after the safety and well-being of our staff. However, we realize that this world is home to millions who are less fortunate than we are. The Spruceland team strives to lend a compassionate hand to those in need in communities around the world. For this reason, we seek out opportunities to lighten the burdens of the orphaned, the homeless and the hungry.
Over the years, shareholders and employees have contributed a large percentage of their earnings towards the construction of over a dozen orphanages, housing over 1000 of the world’s most destitute children. Every year, our staff sponsor a number of these children, reaching 100 at the Spruceland Legacy Children's home in Kenya, in 2018.
Dominican Republic Village Project
We have also been privileged to partner with La Fundacion el Samaritano in the construction of Villa Spruceland Paraiso, in the Dominican Republic. Every dollar donated by staff is matched by Spruceland's founder through The Ben Sawatzky Foundation. Employees are also given time off to travel to the Dominican Republic to personally build the homes they've funded, and present them to the families.
In addition, the village has a school offering quality education to 300 students from K to Grade 8. The village’s medical centre distributes medicines and treats diseases, illnesses and injuries to all in the village and the surrounding population. Its Vocational Training Centre trains over 300 local adult men and woman in practical skills, such as upholstery, curtain making, hair dressing, electrical, plumbing and refrigeration – skills badly needed that help them to support their families. It is our goal to provide hope for the hopeless, break the generational chain of poverty, and provide a more prosperous future for the most vulnerable families on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic.
In 2012, we raised funds for a plot of land large enough to provide each of those 286 families with a 2000 ft2 garden plot. A large number the families are enjoying the fruits of their labours—harvesting corn, yucca, papaya, sweet potatoes, bananas, melons, pumpkins and beans, to feed their families.
In 2018, the former owners of Spruceland, Ben and Dori Sawatzky, together with a number of friends, raised half a million dollars for Opportunity International to build a micro-finance bank in Villa Spruceland. Its purpose is to recruit local entrepreneurial men and woman, offer small loans to start micro businesses to the graduates of the local vocational schools, so that these grads will have the tools they need to practice their trade.
At Spruceland, we recognize that we live in a land of unparalleled opportunity, and a small weekly donation to those less fortunate can make a life changing difference for these vulnerable families.
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