Travelers' Philanthropy Handbook - Center for Responsible Travel

Villages of Loreto Bay and Loreto Bay FoundationBy Mark J. SpaldingPresident, The Ocean FoundationThe Loreto Bay Foundation (www.loretobayfoundation.org) was created and designed toreceive 1% of gross sales of real estate in the Villages of Loreto Bay (VLB). VLB was asustainable resort development on the Baja California Peninsula coast of the Sea of Cortez inLoreto, Mexico built by Canadian investors and heavily marketed to U.S. and Canadianvacationers and retirees. Between November 2004 and December 2008, the Foundationreceived nearly $1.2 million dollars from real estate sales, as well as additional gifts fromindividual donors and from the re-sale of some homes (which are also required to contribute 1%of the gross sales price). This revenue stream for the Foundation is set forth in the MasterDevelopment Agreement for the project, and in the trust deeds for the homes and condos.These funds were used for projects in and around Loreto, with a focus on giving to communityprojects and to the Loreto Bay National Park. Grantees were primarily selected by Foundationstaff based on extensive research to find worthy projects. The grants ranged from $200 to$200,000.Here are some highlights of how the Loreto Bay Foundation has dispersed funds entrusted to itin the fields of health, education, the environment, and sustainable development in and aroundLoreto.• HealthTo address emergency medicalneeds, the Foundationcontributed to building a newhospital for Loreto as well as anambulance shade shelter. TheFoundation also provided fundsfor the fire department to obtain“jaws of life” equipment andtraining (to literally cut openwrecked cars to extricateaccident victims), as well as forCommunity Hospital, Loreto, Mexico. Credit: Mark J. Spaldingmaintenance of its ambulanceequipment. The “jaws of life”ahas already been instrumental in several life-saving rescues on the highway near Loreto. In2006, when Hurricane John ravaged the area, the Foundation paid for fuel for all the volunteerhelicopters that evacuated people and brought in relief supplies to those isolated in themountains. Our efforts to improve the health of the people of Loreto also included support for aresidential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility.To help address a growing crisis of street dogs and cats (and their waste), the Foundationcontributed to the cost of building a clinic, called Animalandia. It has periodically contributed tothe costs of purchasing supplies for spaying and neutering surgeries which are performed byvolunteer veterinary surgeons from the U.S.59