About us
Ayuda Samaná is a project to help people in our own community who genuinely need it. Sometimes it is a family that needs food, an older person who needs nappies, children who need school supplies, or someone going through a hard stretch. We find a way to get hold of what is missing and take it to them directly.
Why it exists
Giving money at a distance takes trust, and trust is earned by showing your work. So every project on this page carries the same three things: Evelyn’s visit to the house, the budget at real local prices, and the delivery photos once it is done.
This is not help arriving from outside. It is a community holding up its own, with people from the area deciding what is actually needed.
We are small on purpose. One project at a time, done properly, says more than ten done halfway.
Who we help
The question is not whether the house looks poor. It is what the person actually needs. Evelyn puts it like this:
I don’t just look at whether the house is humble. I look at how the person lives and what they actually need: whether there are children and no food, whether there is an older person who needs nappies, whether there is a mother on her own holding up her children, whether someone is ill or disabled and the family has no way to cover it. And I look at whether the need is real, rather than someone trying to take advantage of help.That is why each project’s verification note describes the need rather than anyone’s poverty. And it is why saying no is part of the job too. What comes up most is basic: food, nappies, school supplies, medication, a pair of crutches, or repairs to a house in very poor condition. Things that look small and change somebody’s day-to-day entirely.
Who we are
Two people. None of this goes through an office.
Evelyn García
Visits, verification and deliveries
She goes to the house before a project is published, talks with the family and confirms what is actually needed. Her verification note and the date of the visit appear on every project. Afterwards she is the one who delivers it and takes the photos.
Marvin
The foundation and this page
He runs the foundation, the accounts and this page: the budgets, the payments, and the email with the photos that reaches everyone who gave.
The rules we do not break
These are not good intentions. They are how we work, and every project on this page follows them.
The foundation buys. We never hand over cash.
If it is for nappies, we buy the nappies. If it is for food, we buy the food. If a child needs school supplies, we buy the supplies. This is not distrust of the family: it is how everything stays clear.
Nothing is published without the visit.
Evelyn goes to the house, talks with the family and confirms the situation before the project exists on this page.
Nobody appears without having given permission.
We publish the first name, never the full surname. And if a family asks us to take their story and photos down, we take them down that same day.
We do not put misery on display to get attention.
We do not publish anyone crying, or in a situation that would make them feel bad afterwards, and we do not tell private details that serve no purpose. A delivery tells the story without turning somebody’s suffering into content.
We name the village, never the address.
Las Galeras, El Limón, Samaná. Never where a family actually lives.
Every number comes from a real budget.
The prices are local — the hardware store and the pharmacy where we actually buy. The full list is published on every project.
The proof arrives by email.
When a project is carried out, the delivery photos go on the page and into the inbox of everyone who gave. They are there so you can see that what you gave arrived — not so you feel sorry for anyone.
“This is not about me. It is about what we can do for Samaná together.”
— Evelyn García
Want to talk to us?
Write to us at info@ayudasamana.do. We answer ourselves, not a robot.