December 2010
Read a short story about the early days of El Hogar and the involvement of The Rev. Dr. David Winsor and his wife Margo Mingay.


December 2010
Rev. Rich Kunz has moved on from his position as Executive Director of El Hogar Projects. Read more here…



November 2010
Walkathon Updates
The Winchester Walk-and-Bikeathon held on September 26, 2010 was a great success. We had 165 walkers and bikers and raised approximately $22,000!

On October 23, 2010 there was the first annual walkathon in Winter Park, Florida. There were 77 walkers and this first-time event raised over $7000!

Walkathons are easy to plan and are great fundraisers because they are fun, people enjoy coming out for them, and there are very few expenses involved, so almost all of the funds raised can go directly to El Hogar. They are also a great way to introduce extended family members and work colleagues to El Hogar. If you are considering holding a walkathon, or any other kind of a-thon, please contact Liz Kinchen at lkinchen@elhogar.org.


September 2010
Rev. Rich Kunz will be moving on from his position as Executive Director of El Hogar Projects. Read more here…


November 2010
Dates for the fall 2010 El Hogar Graduation celebrations are as follows: November 11 - Agricultural School Graduation
November 12 - Technical Institute Graduation
November 13 - El Hogar Graduation


August 2010
Amazon and El Hogar Partner to Raise Funds. When you make your Amazon purchases by clicking on our Amazon button, El Hogar receives 4% of every purchase made. There is no cost to El Hogar for this service, and no cost to you beyond your purchase, so please help us earn this free money! There is no time limit; come to the El Hogar web site anytime to make purchases on Amazon and help El Hogar earn money.
Click here to start shopping at Amazon now.


July 2010
On June 14, 2010 200 people attended the El Hogar Fiesta held at the Boston Seaport Hotel. It was a fun, lively and beautiful evening. Claudia and Raul Castro were present with us as well as friends and supporters from all around the greater Boston area. Approximately $46,000 was raised through this event!

On June 8, 2010 an El Hogar Fiesta Tropical was held at the Lambton Golf & Country Club in Toronto Canada, with a group of 185 people, raising a total of $35,000.

On March 7, 2010, an El Hogar Fiesta was held at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati Ohio, with a group of over 200 people, raising $26,000 for El Hogar.

These events are fun ways to spend an evening with friends, to introduce new people to El Hogar, and to help raise much-needed funds for El Hogar. If you are interested in holding a similar event, please contact the EHMI office at info@elhogar.org and we can provide a packet of materials as well as phone consultation to help with your planning.


March 2010
The 2nd annual Canon City Colorado Walkathon!
The 2nd annual Canon City Walk-a-thon is happening on Saturday, April 17, 2010. A group from Canon City hiking clubs, churches and civic organizations will be walking as the Skyline Ridge Team. If you live in the area, come and walk! If not, you can support this team by making a donation here.


March 2010
The Cincinnati Fiesta Fundraiser for El Hogar was held on Sunday March 7, 2010 at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati Ohio. It was a lively evening with great food, conversation, speeches, and auction bidding. Funds raised for El Hogar exceeded $26,000! Kudos and thank you to the dedicated planning team that worked to make this event such a success!


February 2010
El Hogar’s supporters in the Cincinnati, Ohio area are holdinga large gala fundraiser, the Cincinnati Fiesta for El Hogar, on March 7, 2010. Special guests include: Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, Bishop of Southern Ohio; Rich Kunz, Executive Director of El Hogar Projects; Lazaro Juarez, Honduran Executive Director of El Hogar Projects; Liz Kinchen, Executive Director of El Hogar Ministries; and Walter Brueggemann, famed Old Testament scholar. There will be a silent auction, raffle, entertainment, great food, many activities and a lively and festive atmosphere. All who are in the area and able to attend are welcome. If you cannot attend, but would like to support this fundraiser, you are welcome to participate in that way. Click here for more information on the Cincinnati Fiesta for El Hogar.


January 2010
Bowl -A-Thon Fundraiser in Natick MA
The Mathworks Bowlathon event, held in December in Natick Massachusetts, was a fun evening for many Mathworks employees and El Hogar enthusiasts. The event raised close to $6000 for El Hogar! Thank you Mathworks!

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December 2009
Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser in Natick MA
The Mathworks, a software company located in Natick Massachusetts, has taken three work teams to El Hogar over the past few years. The volunteers who went have been inspired to create a unique fundraiser for El Hogar – a Bowl-a-Thon. These enterprising Mathworks employees have set a goal of knocking down 8000 bowling pins in one evening, on December 10, 2010, and raising $10,000. They are seeking sponsors among their friends, families, and co-workers. These creative athletes can be supported by donating online by clicking on the Bowl-a-Thon icon on this page. Those wishing to donate by check can make out a check to El Hogar and mail to 70 Church Street, Winchester MA 01890, with Bowl-a-thon in the memo line. Thank you to all who support this event!

October 2009
Winchester based Walk-a-thon raises $30,000!
Sunday October 25, 2009 was the first annual National El Hogar Walkathon, held in Winchester, MA.Surrounded by days of rain and cold, Sunday turned out to be the most beautiful Fall day so far this year in the Boston area. The sky was blue the sun was shining, the air was clean and we had at least 200 walkers participate in a 5K walk around residential and downtown Winchester. Read whole story here.


June 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009, the military, apparently at the request of the Supreme Court of Honduras, arrested the President, Mel Zelaya, and transported him to Costa Rica. By the end of the day, a new President had been installed, following the order of succession stipulated by the constitution. As far as I know, no one was injured or killed in this process. Click here to read updates from Rev. Kunz on this situation in Honduras.


Dates for the fall 2009 El Hogar Graduation celebrations are as follows: November 6 Agricultural School Graduation
November 7 Reunion
November 14 El Hogar graduation
November 13 Institute Graduation

All potential visitors to El Hogar for any of these events should contact the El Hogar Ministries office for scheduling: info@elhogar.org.


May 2009
On Thursday May 28, in the early morning, an earthquake occurred in the northern coastal area of Honduras. The earthquake was a 7.1 on the Richter scale, and there was damage to houses and buildings in that area, with several deaths. In the Tegucigalpa area, as well as in Talanga where our Agricultural school is located, only small tremors were felt, and no damage was done. El Hogar, it’s staff and students, are all fine. We extend our concern and prayers to all those who have been affected by this earthquake.


May 2009
October is National El Hogar Walk-a-thon Month! - We will have walk-a-thons occurring in many cities across the country. If you are interested in organizing a walk please contact us at info@elhogar.org or 781.729.7600. Click here for more information.


April 2009
El Hogar was featured in recent news articles in The Niagara Anglican. Ros Reycraft writes about a recent work team trip to El Hogar in "Answering Bishop Michael’s Call" Click here to read the article on page 6 of the pdf.


March 2009
Read The Rev. David Kendall-Sperry's account of a recent visit to El Hogar from the March issue of the Interchange. Click here to read the article on page 13 of the pdf.


March, 2009 - El Hogar on YouTube!
Click here to view a short video clip about El Hogar on YouTube. Check back, we will be preparing more videos in the near future.


March 26, 2009
El Hogar was featured in a recent news article in the Canadian news publication The Straight. Click here to read the article "B.C. aid helps Honduran Kids"


February 2009
A new version of our Work Team Handbook – Version 5 – is now available. It contains some important new information, including a change in our fees. Due to the high rate of inflation in Honduras, we need to slightly increase our work team fees. Additionally, there are stricter passport requirements from Honduras. All work team members and leaders for 2009 and 2010 trips should download and read this new version. Download the El Hogar Work Team Handbook - Version 5, 2009.

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November 2008
Graduations at El Hogar - Graduation is an important event in the lives of our students, and of their families. Our students come from situations of intense poverty. Most of them have simply been surviving from day to day. Therefore, the completion of a phase of education is a significant accomplishment. Read more here.


November 2008
Reunion 2008 - This past November, El Hogar held its third annual reunion of students who have graduated from El Hogar. Word was sent out throughout Honduras, from radio announcements and word of mouth, and over 30 young men came to a day of celebration, music, tears, triumphs and sharing of their life stories. Two of the alumnae graduated 20 years ago! Others graduated just last year, and almost every year between. Read more here.


October 2008
Carolyn S. Ellis from Weston, MA writes about her experience as a member of a fifteen person work team from St. Peter’s Church in Weston to El Hogar. Read her article here.


Technical Institute Dedication - On Tuesday February 26, 2008 we held the Dedication of the El Hogar Technical Institute in the Amarateca Valley. It was a glorious event! The day dawned with a crystal blue sky, a gentle warm breeze, and much excitement in the air.

Read more about Dedication celebration here.

Click here to view a slide show of the Dedication

Click here to listen to speeches given during a dinner celebration

Click here to view a slide show of our new Technical Institute


January 2008
The El Hogar work team handbook has just been updated. This new version has new important information for each work team going to El Hogar in 2008.
Click here to download the 2007 El Hogar Work Team Handbook (Word .doc - 47 pages).

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November 2007
Graduation took place this past November. El Hogar is proud to announce the graduation of 12 boys from the 6th grade, 11 from Prepa (7th grade), 22 from the Technical Institute, and 13 from the Agricultural School and Farm.


September 2007
Rev. W. Richard Kunz, father of Rich Kunz, died at home after a lengthy illness on September 23, 2007.  He had been on Hospice care and was able to spend his last hours surrounded by those who loved him best.

Pastor Kunz was an ordained Methodist minister who served various churches in Brooklyn NY , Bethlehem PA and other urban communities. When asked to describe his years of ministry, he once said, "They were humble but quite rich". He was a vibrant example of the "worker priest". We ask for your prayers for the repose of his soul and for strength and consolation for his wife, Eleanor, and his children, Rich, Joanne and Mary. A funeral service will be held Wednesday September 26 at 10:30 am at Fairless Hills Methodist Church, PA.


September 2007
Hurricane Felix - On September 4, 2007, hurricane Felix hit the northeast part of Honduras. People living near rivers and the coast were evacuated. Bishop Allen called for all the churches to be prepared to house people who needed a place to stay. There are some areas in that part of the country which have severe flooding. However, it seems the country was far better prepared for Felix than they were for hurricane Mitch in 1998. The storm decreased in strength as it approached the middle of the country. The area around Tegucigalpa received just a slight amount of rain. Fortunately, for El Hogar, all three of our schools were spared any problem. Our prayers go out to all the people affected by this storm.


September 2007
Don Julio Matute died recently.  He, his wife, Dona Tona, and Lazaro were the first employees of El Hogar.  Although he was experiencing some health problems during this last year, he continued to be a faithful worker. Don Julio is the one, who over the years, built much of our school.   He was the one who knew where to find the sewer lines, and the water lines, and the electrical lines.  He is the one people went to first when something needed to be fixed.  He devoted his life to El Hogar.  Besides his practical work, he also served as a surrogate grandfather to the boys at El Hogar.  He could often be seen with a small group of boys or teenagers around him, helping him and learning from him.  He was an important member of our team, and was just honored for his service a new months ago.  He is, and will be, missed. Everywhere one looks, there are evidences of his work, and reminders of his personality.  He is truly a person whose faithful labor made the world a better place.


September 2007
The Lexington Minuteman recently featured an article about the experiences of a work team from The Church of Our Redeemer Episcopal church in Lexington, MA. Read their article here.


March 2007
The Episcopal Relief and Development office of the Episcopal Church USA has just granted El Hogar significant support to launch a new community development initiative through El Hogar’s Agricultural School and Farm. Read more here.

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December 2006
The Bake House, a popular small cafe in West Vancouver, Canada, with the assistance of Grade 6 and 7 students from Chartwell Elementary School, hosted a Christmas fund-raiser for El Hogar on December 9, 2006. Read about this very successful event here.


November 2006
El Hogar Graduation Ceremonies took place in November 2006 - See a list of recent graduates from our three schools and read a description of the 2nd annual El Hogar Reunion written by Rev. Kunz.


October 2006
Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation recently featured an article about El Hogar in their Weekly Update. Read their whole article here.


September 2006
El Hogar Reaches out to Girls!
The staff of El Hogar Projects and the board of El Hogar Ministries are overjoyed to report that we will begin taking young girls into our ministry in Honduras beginning in January 2007! Read more about this exciting new program.


September 2006
Shipping Policy changes - For many, many years thoughtful donors and friends of El Hogar have been sending goods and supplies to El Hogar. It is through this kindness that we have clothing, medicine and school supplies for our boys. This is has been a tremendous help to our program and has saved us precious money. Recently we have felt the need to reevaluate our shipping program to best serve our program. Click here to learn more about our new shipping policy.


September 2006
The El Hogar Marimba Band traveled to Ohio to perform at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church this past June. Read some of the boys comments about their experience in the US.


June 2006
The El Hogar Marimba Band CD - Sounds of Love and Hope - is now available. Josh and Steve Taylor traveled to Hondurus this past spring to record the El Hogar Mirimba band. Josh, a music school graduate, now working in local recording studios mixed and edited the material to create a full length CD. All the proceeds from the CDs will go to El Hogar. Read more about their trip here.
Click here for a CD order form.


May 2006
Capital Campaign News - We are so very grateful to report that our project to relocate and expand St. Mary’s Technical Institute is going along well. We are busy working on the last of our two major buildings and our boys are now living in their new dormitory and working in the new workshops. We had set a capital campaign goal of $1.5 million to make this dream possible, and we have been blessed with generous support that helped us raise $1.3 million toward that goal! We are humbly grateful to all who have contributed to making this project come to life. We are now in the last phase of our campaign, and we welcome support from donors and friends of El Hogar who are moved to help us reach our final target. Read more about ourCapital Campaign.


May 2006
Read our Spring 2006 newsletter, or look through our newsletter archives to view past issues.


April 2006
New Beginnings: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.


March 2006
It is with sadness that we report the murder of an El Hogar graduate from the Technical Institute. Rev. Kunz recently informed us that Jose Oger Bermudez, who graduated from the Institute in 1991, was shot and killed on March 1, 2006. Jose had graduated from the Institute in 1991 and had gone on to become a futbol star in Guatemala. Jose was 32 years old. He left behind a wife and two children, and was in the process of adopting a daughter. Although the murder took place in Guatemala, he was buried in Honduras. Lazaro took a large group of students to the funeral. Rev. Kunz is asking for prayers for his family.


February 2006
El Hogar is honored to be featured in the Catalogue for Philanthropy.
El Hogar has been selected as a Massachusetts 2005 Catalogue for Philanthropy charity. This year’s edition of the Catalogue profiles 72 of Massachusetts' outstanding environmental, cultural, and human service agencies as "examples of excellence" in Massachusetts philanthropy. El Hogar Ministries, Inc. was chosen from a total applicant pool of over 250 organizations.
Read more about this prestigious honor here.


January 2006
"A Place They Call Home" - El Hogar Ministries was recently featured in the Winchester Star newspaper. Read the whole article here.

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December 2005
Dr. Barbra McCune, missioner physician in Honduras, and medical care provider for El Hogar Projects describes going on a home visit. Read Dr. McCune's description here.


November 2005
Each of our three schools held their graduation ceremonies in November 2005. View photos of the celebrations along with a description by Rev. Kunz.
Read a complete list of 2005 graduates from all three centers.


November 2005
Autumn in Honduras: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.


November 2005
Read about El Hogar's first reunion for graduates. In Novemeber 2005, thirty young men came to celebrate with the current graduates and to share news from their lives.


August 2005
The Boston Herald published an article on El Hogar written by Lilla Cosgrove who traveled to Honduras as a member of one of our work teams. Read her story from the Boston Herald.


June 2005
Safey in Honduras: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.


April 2005
Rebuilding the wall around El Hogar, which was seriously damaged by hurricane Adrian - El Hogar is currently rebuilding the back perimeter wall, which was washed out by hurricane Adrian in spring of 2005. The rain and floods brought by the hurricane completely washed out a large section of the back wall of our elementary school grounds, exposing El Hogar to the street and neighborhood below. This break compromised the safety of the boys and staff and required an additional guard to be hired to help ensure the safety of the school. A project to repair the wall began immediately.

This retaining wall stood 20 feet high and was located in an area which is inaccessible to vehicles and large equipment. Therefore the rebuilding of the wall had to be completed totally by hand, making this a very labor intensive and expensive project. A construction crew worked through the summer to reconstruct the wall while making it stronger than before to prevent similar damage in the future.

The cost to repair the wall is over $25,000. This unexpected and costly project impacts our operating budget. El Hogar would be grateful for and contributions to offset this cost.


March 2005
Holy Week in Honduras: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.





December 2004
Winter in Honduras: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.


2004
Health Care in Honduras: Read a letter by Rev. Rich Kunz with reflections on his time in Honduras.




Click here to see current news stories from El Hogar



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