Fuel THE AMIGOS MISSION with a monthly gift

Becoming a monthly donor is an easy way to deepen your commitment to our mission because…

  • You can ensure that our programs bring more youth into cross-cultural learning and ethical service experiences.
  • You can set up your giving for the entire year easily and rest assured that you are regularly supporting AMIGOS.
  • You can join a passionate community of fellow monthly donors in the AMIGOS Monthly Donor Society.
  • You can quadruple the impact of your annual giving according to monthly giving expert Keith Trinh of the Modern Nonprofit.

The Monthly Donor Society recognizes a special network of supporters, people who have different stories with our organization but the same desire to sustain our programs!

 

 

Join us in inspiring leaders through monthly giving.

 

 

 

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT WITH A CORPORATE MATCH!

Did you know that as many as two-thirds of companies in the United States might match donations according to America’s Charities’ Snapshot Employer Research?

See if your employer matches gifts

Your company might be able to extend the impact of your giving through a matching gift program! If you are not aware of this program (many people are not), inquire with your HR office to see if your gift could be matched. AMIGOS EIN is 74-1547146. If you have any questions, email [email protected].

 

Current companies matching gifts to AMIGOS:

Adobe
AMGEN Foundation
Aon
Apple
Aresenal Capital Partners
AT&T
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Boeing Company
Boston Consulting Group
Charities Aid Foundation of America
Chevron
Chubb
Clorox Company
Discover Financial Services
Energizer Batteries
First Weber Group
GE
General Mills
Goldman Sachs & Co.
Google
Greater Kansas Southern
Halliburton
Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund
Holland & Knight LLP
Honeywell
IBG Financial Advisors
Intel
Intuit
Kaiser Permanente
Lyondell Chemical Company
Macquarie Group
McKinsey & Co.
Medtronic
Merck
Microsoft
Milliman
Murphy Oil
Netflix
PepsiCo
Phillips 66
Portland General Electric
Progressive Insurance
PwC
Salesforce
Sanofi-Aventis
Shell Oil Company
S & P Global
Texas Instruments
Two
Verizon
Workday Financials

HELP SUSTAIN THE VISION OF AMIGOS WITH A Transformational LEGACY GIFT

AMIGOS has touched the lives of thousands of alumni, parents, chapter leaders, and supporters over the past five decades. A bequest or other legacy gift is a meaningful way to leave a legacy with an organization that has played an important role in your life. 

The Guy Bevil Legacy Society is designed to create a communication channel between our legacy donors and the organization. 

You may designate your gift toward the area of greatest need, financial assistance, the AMIGOS endowment, or a specific program. If you have already made a legacy gift, please let us know so we can recognize you as a society member.

The Guy Bevil Legacy Society Intention Form can be downloaded here. For questions, please contact the AMIGOS Fund Development Team at [email protected]

THE GUY BEVIL LEGACY SOCIETY

The Guy Bevil Legacy Society is named in honor of the founder of AMIGOS, Guy Bevil, who had the vision and drive to start the organization in 1965. We applaud Guy Bevil’s legacy as well as the foresight of our Legacy Society members who are securing our vision for future generations and the organization’s future success.

Guy Bevil, Founder and Executive Director of Amigos de las Américas, 1965-1975. Before founding AMIGOS, he traveled to Europe, Western Asia, and Central America as an amateur archaeologist and then served as the Youth Minister at River Oaks Baptist Church.

Current Legacy Society Members

Douglass and Margaret Beeman
Phil Bratten
Elaine Granata
David Hill
Sara Nathan
Fiona Ortiz
Ann Sandford
Mary Stelletello and Andy Howick
Marvin Trotter
Emily Untermeyer
Dayton Voorhees
Anonymous (2)

 

Hear Directly from Guy Bevil Legacy Society Members

“When my son passed away a few years ago, I searched for ways to remember him, an AMIGOS volunteer in Costa Rica in 1992. It did not take long for me to decide that donations and a legacy gift to AMIGOS would both help allay my grief and honor my son’s commitment to the AMIGOS mission. I also came to realize that my support for youth programs in Latin America had come to reflect, and expand upon, my own interests. Over many years, my trips to Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala, while visiting my son, had shown me, up close, that young Americans abroad could both help others in need and build lifelong leadership skills grounded in community work experiences and relationship-building across cultures. 

My commitment to AMIGOS has only grown as I have watched the organization respond to the need for innovative programs to meet challenges presented by the pandemic. I joined the Guy Bevil Legacy Society by committing to a legacy gift to help ensure that AMIGOS will thrive long into the future.”  

–Ann Sandford, AMIGOS Parent (’92, ’93, ’94, ’99, ’00); 7/1/2021 

 

“My life changed when Guy Bevil spoke at my church when I was 15. I went on survey with him the next spring and to Guatemala in ’68, ’69, and ’70, Honduras in ’71, and Paraguay in ’72. AMIGOS changed my view of the world by making me a better person with more compassion, empathy, and a desire to do for others. At the beginning of my career, I wanted to help my community by building a much-needed recreation center. Guy Bevil and AMIGOS taught me to have a vision and stick with it! With the help of many others, we raised $9 million and built a 20,000 sq. ft. Center. I joined the Guy Bevil Legacy Society by committing to a $50,000 legacy gift. My donation will contribute to the future of AMIGOS volunteers and communities throughout Latin America. When you make a legacy gift to AMIGOS, you are throwing rocks in a pond that causes multiple ripples.”  

–Marvin Trotter, ’71, ’72; 08/28/2019 

Become the next visionary legacy donor and member of the Guy Bevil Legacy Society!

Amigos de las Américas is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. As such, we are not a professional financial advising organization. Any information found on this webpage does not constitute financial or legal advice. For financial and legal counsel, please consult your personal financial and legal advisers.

HELP US EXPAND OUR DONOR COMMUNITY BY FUNDRAISING TODAY!

Fundraise for AMIGOS

People of all types involved in our organization (staff, board, volunteers, alumni, etc.) can connect AMIGOS to funding sources. Through fundraising conducted by the AMIGOS Fund Development team and AMIGOS chapters, we raise nearly $2 million in giving each year to support our programs and students. With your individual story and personal connections, you can take part in this massive effort in a way that no one else can.

Ways you can assist in fundraising:

Hear What Changemakers Have to Say About AMIGOS

When you join AMIGOS, you become part of our family. The AMIGOS community is filled with changemakers who are supporting young leaders who join our programs. Hear from program alumni, their families, and educators as they discuss the impact of AMIGOS and their own stories.  

 

Mateo Rojas, ’14, ’19,’21; 2/13/2022

“When my son passed away a few years ago, I searched for ways to remember him, an AMIGOS volunteer in Costa Rica in 1992. It did not take long for me to decide that donations and a legacy gift to AMIGOS would both help allay my grief and honor my son’s commitment to the AMIGOS mission. I also came to realize that my support for youth programs in Latin America had come to reflect, and expand upon, my own interests. Over many years, my trips to Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala, while visiting my son, had shown me, up close, that young Americans abroad could both help others in need and build lifelong leadership skills grounded in community work experiences and relationship-building across cultures. 

My commitment to AMIGOS has only grown as I have watched the organization respond to the need for innovative programs to meet challenges presented by the pandemic. I joined the Guy Bevil Legacy Society by committing to a legacy gift to help ensure that AMIGOS will thrive long into the future.”  

–Ann Sandford, AMIGOS Parent (’92, ’93, ’94, ’99, ’00); 7/1/2021 

Learn how you can make a legacy gift and join Ann in the Guy Bevil Legacy Society here.

 

“My AMIGOS experience in Costa Rica ’87, Michoacán, Mexico ’88, Costa Rica ’89, and Manabí, Ecuador ’91 quite literally changed the trajectory of my personal and professional interests, and my life in a profound and positive way. My work in international development for over 20 years, and interest in community development and impact initiatives, was sparked while working along local community leaders and organizations to enhance and improve the well-being of children and families on diverse initiatives in Latin America. My experience with AMIGOS helped me understand that I had a part to play in the vision of change we want to see in the world. This photo was taken during Ecuadorian President Sixto Durán Ballén‘s visit to Portoviejo, Manabí where our summer country office headquarters was based when I served as Project Director in 1991. When I learned that President Sixto was in town for the day, I resolved to find a way meet him. One of my AMIGOS Project Staff at the time said that it would be “impossible” to meet the President at the last minute, and due to the President’s security. And in that very moment, I realized that it was important to demonstrate the importance of not being confined or deterred by our doubts to my Project Staff who had incredible leadership potential to return with AMIGOS as Sr. Staff themselves – we had to give it a try. In addition to meeting President Sixto, we met the Minister of Health and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. And AMIGOS volunteers vaccinated 30,000 cats and dogs against rabies that summer, in a mere 6 weeks. AMIGOS no longer undertakes rabies vaccination programs. AMIGOS has transitioned to new models of impactful programming which I support wholeheartedly, in addition to its sustained cultural and language immersion experience with host families – which makes the AMIGOS experience unparalleled to any other I have seen.”

–Raquel Wexler, ’87; ’88; ’89; ’93; 10/19/20

 

“I believe in stretching youth to develop leadership skills early and in forging close personal relationships between youth throughout the Americas. AMIGOS does this well.”   

–Scott Roberts, 7/22/20  

 

“My AMIGOS experience began in 1974 when I was a high school student in Denver, Colorado, and it lasted seven or eight years. I ended up, you know, of course being a Route Leader and a Project Director. I actually worked a year at the International Office here in Houston right after I graduated from college doing chapter development, so that was a lot of fun. And AMIGOS was so key in helping me figure out what I wanted to do. Initially, I thought, you know, it has to be medicine or public health, etc., but I actually met some really interesting diplomats, foreign service officers, and USAID officials in my AMIGOS work and, again, decided that was what I wanted to do. So that is what I ended up doing, and I have done that 37, 38, years now. I give back to AMIGOS because it was the most consequential experience of my youth and put me on the road to a wonderful career in public service. AMIGOS nurtured my passion and potential as an effective leader and manager and set the stage for my success as a Foreign Service Officer. Please pay it forward with a generous donation to AMIGOS so that the next generation of young leaders can do good and do well in service to others.” 

Ambassador Arnold Chacón, ’74; ’75; ’76; ’77; ’78; ’79; 7/13/2020

 

“AMIGOS taught me many very important lessons at a young age, but one that has most stuck with me is that given the tools to think critically about the world and themselves, youth are capable of things far beyond what their age suggests. I am proud to infuse that spirit into my work by encouraging my students to ask critical questions, develop self-awareness, and become strong self-advocates. I support AMIGOS so they can continue to empower and inspire as many youth leaders as possible.” 

–Libby Udelson, ’08, 09, 11, 12, 14, 174/26/20

 

“I donated to AMIGOS because it was a way to help more teenagers go on this amazing experience. I received financial assistance to be able to attend my AMIGOS trip, and I just want to be able to help more students like me experience this journey.” 

–Alexa Lara, ’19; 4/22/2020

 

I donated because I got so much out of my participant experience and want others to be able to experience AMIGOS in the same capacity that I did.

–Emma Link, ’15, ’16, ’17; 04/14/2020

 

“In the ’80s, I was the Director of Finance and Administration for AMIGOS. During my time there, 5 years, I had the chance to go to Mexico and Costa Rica and see the impact that AMIGOS makes on a community. I also saw a transformation in the volunteers. They went in young and inexperienced and came out mature and ready to make an impact on the world. In the interim, I have stayed in touch with AMIGOS, and I feel it is on us whose lives were impacted by AMIGOS to help the organization endure. Programs like this need to continue to be an option for young people.”

–Richard Nevins; 04/02/2020

 

“My life changed when Guy Bevil spoke at my church when I was 15. I went on survey with him the next spring and to Guatemala in ’68, ’69, and ’70, Honduras in ’71, and Paraguay in ’72. AMIGOS changed my view of the world by making me a better person with more compassion, empathy, and a desire to do for others. At the beginning of my career, I wanted to help my community by building a much-needed recreation center. Guy Bevil and AMIGOS taught me to have a vision and stick with it! With the help of many others, we raised $9 million and built a 20,000 sq. ft. Center. I joined the Guy Bevil Legacy Society by committing to a $50,000 legacy gift. My donation will contribute to the future of AMIGOS volunteers and communities throughout Latin America. When you make a legacy gift to AMIGOS, you are throwing rocks in a pond that causes multiple ripples.” 

–Marvin Trotter, ’71, ’72; 08/28/2019

Learn how you can make a legacy gift and join Marvin in the Guy Bevil Legacy Society here.

 

StoryCorps® AMIGOS – 2020 Adelante Festival

In celebration of the first virtual Adelante Festival in September 2020, we documented three audio stories of connection and impact. If you are interested in sharing your AMIGOS story, contact [email protected].

Ellen Curran and Ann Crowley, parents turned chapter leaders

 

Arjun and Alice Chatterjee, father and daughter – two generations of Amigos

 

Ed, Bella, and Brendon Cazier, an AMIGOS family

 

The opinions expressed in these interviews do not represent the official opinions or views of Amigos de las Américas.

 

The Foundation for Amigos de las Américas was established in December 2003 as an independent 501 (c)(3) organization to support the youth leadership and sustainable development work of Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS). The dream of creating the Foundation was born out of the desire to take full advantage of the opportunities available to AMIGOS to make a difference in both the lives of volunteers and our host communities.

 

Endowment

The endowment enables AMIGOS to keep programs accessible to youth from diverse backgrounds and supports innovation for the future.

For questions about the endowment, please contact Jenny Claycombe, Managing Director of Development, at [email protected].

 

Trustees

Kevin Lanier
Steve Cook
Steve Sharpe

Recognition for Major Gifts and Investments in 2022

Our commitment to access would not be possible without the support of our individual, corporate, and foundation donors. Their belief in our mission and their financial support enable us to continue inspiring lifelong leadership and shared global responsibility through our authentic and immersive programs. We are honored to recognize donors who supported AMIGOS at the national level with a monetary gift or an in-kind donation of $1,000 or greater in 2022.  

 

Corporate and Foundation Donors

Ann C. & C. Hamilton Sloan Family Foundation 

Aronson Foundation, Inc. 

Bank of America 

Bernstein Global Wealth Management 

Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation 

Brombacher & Co. Properties 

Capital Plus Financial 

CauseVox 

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation 

Dykema 

Frank, Elmore, Lievens, Slaughter & Turet LLP 

Higginbotham Insurance Agency 

Joe Coffey of BlueAid Consulting, Inc. 

Lift Source Machinery LTD 

Mann Family Foundation 

MAS Restaurant Group 

Merck Foundation 

MSB Cockayne Fund Inc. 

Murphy Oil Corporation 

NX Media 

Robbins, Salomon & Patt, LTD 

SCA Charitable Foundation 

Shell Oil Company Foundation 

Strake Foundation 

Tajin International Corp 

Tokio Marine HCC Surety Group  

United Airlines 

Weatherspoon Charitable Foundation 

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. 

White & Case 

The Wynne Group 

To see AMIGOS corporate partners and to find opportunities for your company to support AMIGOS, visit our corporate partners web page here.  

 

Individual Donors

Molly and Marco Abbruzzese 

Stacy and Doug Alexander 

Gwendolyn Anderson 

Eric and Cindy Arbanovella 

Cathy Arnold 

Jereme Axelrod 

David Baron and Pamela Mann 

Elizabeth Blowers-Nyman and Jay Nyman 

Peggy and Joe Bracewell 

Jennifer Brodsky and Kumar Dandapani 

Ed and Suky Cazier 

Arnold and Alida Chacón 

Raja Chatterjee and Aimee Wilkin 

Sarah and Ryan Collins 

Steve and Allyson Cook 

Mark G. and Susan Cooksey 

James Crump and Mary McBeth 

James and Jill Crutcher 

Ellen Curran 

Viviana and David Denechaud 

Everett Family Fund of the Greater Houston Community Foundation 

Ulla and Matt Foehr 

Tom Frank and Jessica Locheed 

Don Freedman and Martha Kaplan Freedman 

Magdalena and Tony Grijalva 

Andrew Haas and Susan Seligman-Haas 

John and Sohyun Hahn 

Kim Heath Van Maren and Bob Van Maren 

Adolfo Jiménez and Ulrike Falkenberg 

Chris Johnson 

Phil and Linda Johnson 

Michael King and Jane Schussler 

Samantha and Benjamin Krause 

Wade and Donna Lamson 

Kevin and Robin Lanier 

Clyde and Celeste Layne 

Bryan and Leanne Link 

Stanley and Christine Lynch 

Catherine and George Masterson 

Cat Mckay and Mark Bethell 

Kelly McMullen and Daniel Bowles 

Dianne R. Moores 

Anne Morriss and Frances Frei 

Kellie and Chad Motsinger 

Andrew and Sara Nathan 

Justin Nelson and Elizabeth Cooley Nelson 

Laura and Steve Otillar 

David Perna 

Mariela Poleo and Alfredo Sabal 

Ilene and Bart Putterman 

Pete Ralston 

Paul Reidy and Jennifer Wuamett 

Jean Rhodes 

Carrie D. Rhodesnigam 

Scott and Cathi Roberts 

Richard and Alita Rogers Fund of Akron Community Foundation 

Milton and Lisa Roney 

Patricia Rosenberg and Scott Nichols 

Ann Sandford 

Stephen Schafer and Lisa Brogan Schafer 

George Scharffenberger 

Samantha Schnee and Michael Hafner 

Bob and Donna Schutt 

Patricia Selcke Grad and Ben Grad 

Cathy and Fred Seligman 

Steve and Susana Sharpe 

Roy and Laura Sharpe McCutchen 

Barrett Sides 

Virginia Smith 

Kendall and Carlos Solé 

Judy and Charles Tate 

Frank Tetreault and Kathleen Rooney 

Kirsten Tobey and Benjamin Saenz 

Marvin and Cassandra Trotter 

James Tysell 

Adrienne and Juan Vargas 

Michael Vaughn 

Dayton and Sara Voorhees 

Mark and Barbara Wille 

Amalia Wille Davidoff and Eliot Davidoff 

Chris and Sarah Weekley 

Matt Werner 

Robert and LaNoe Westheimer  

Anonymous (X18) 

 

Donors in Memory of

Ed Frank Jr. (1921-2022) 

Nancy Marshall (1934-2022)