2019
THE SONDER PROJECT YEAR–END REVIEW
CEO Letter to
Sonder Supporters
Dear Sonder Project Community:
I always appreciate the holiday season, as it offers the opportunity to reflect on the
past year and plan for the road ahead. It’s also an opportunity to remind ourselves of
who we are -- especially as we approach our five-year anniversary in the spring -- and
why we do what we do.
On a local level, we began 2019 right where we left off in 2018 with a focus on hurricane
recovery work in Panama City. When the storm hit in October, we were not a hurricane
relief organization. When our own community was hurting, however, we responded
vigorously. Our recovery work over the past year has evolved. We stopped our weekly
volunteer trips to Panama City in April, but our support of households in need of
repairs continues. The Sonder Project will remain a community-based organization
whose mission is to strengthen communities. And it all starts with a strong community
of our own.
Top: Members of
our community farm
in Bourou gathered
together.
Left: Our CEO, Chad
Zibelman, helps to
remove tree debris
after Hurricane
Michael.
Top Right: Community
members plant the
first seedlings at our
community garden in
Panama City, FL.
Bottom Right:
Girls play outside
their school in a
Sonder Project
partner community.
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Meanwhile, in Burkina Faso, West Africa, we began our year closely monitoring our
newly developed irrigated community farms. We also continued to bring clean water
to communities and schools reliant on unfiltered water sources. We’re proud to share
that in 2019 we installed four new water pumps, increasing access to clean water for
over 10,000 people. In terms of farming, we’re excited about our community-focused
methods, particularly the reliability of irrigation in an unreliable climate. Still, much of
our time has been focused on weekly meetings with the local leadership teams which
are made up of an equal number of men and women–– all working through challenges
as they arise. In 2020, we plan to continue supporting and monitoring the systems to
determine how we may expand further.
Back in Northwest Florida: Our focus on food security abroad inspired our food
security initiatives at home where we established community and school gardens to
allow people to help themselves. Community gardens create sustainable food security
while increasing community engagement. In 2019, we opened our largest community
garden in the Cedar Grove neighborhood of Panama City. In an area labeled a “food
desert,” locals have been vocal in their support of the community garden, saying it has
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