Grand Circle Foundation
Changing People’ s Lives— one village, one school, one person at a time
Dear Traveler,
In 1992, my late husband Alan and I had a vision: Create a philanthropic arm to Grand Circle Travel— one that would engage our travelers, associates, and vendors, in a shared effort to help change people’ s lives. That year, we established Grand Circle Foundation. Since then, we have pledged or donated more than $ 250 million to more than 500 projects in 50 countries.
In the communities we support, sustainable access to clean water is literally a matter of life and death. To date, we have donated $ 1,425,520 to our partner organization Wine to Water. This has enabled us to deliver thousands of water filters to Foundation-supported schools and communities, as well as to areas impacted by natural disasters and military conflicts. We have also funded a drill rig to dig boreholes at two schools in Tanzania, with more on the way.
We are also committed to preserving the planet we all share, and often look to Indigenous leaders for wisdom and guidance. Since 2020, we have donated more than $ 96,000 to Amazon Watch, an organization that supports Indigenous leaders who are doing the dangerous work to protect the Amazon— the“ lungs of the world”— in Ecuador and Brazil.
We never envisioned funding relief efforts, as our focus is on Water, Sanitation & Hygiene( WASH) and education. But in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, and Israel, we have learned to trust our regional associates and Trip Experience Leaders and send funds to them for immediate needs like food, water, housing, and clothing, as they are closest to the disaster. Then we fund long-term partners, like the Joint Distribution Committee and Wine to Water, who help us deliver aid both immediately and in the long term.
None of this would be possible without your help. Thank you for traveling with us, and for helping to change people’ s lives.
Warm regards,
Harriet R. Lewis Chair, Grand Circle Foundation
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