I’m a big fan of Hemingway. I enjoy his spare but keenly observant writing style. It is evocative and very moving to me. And his themes and stories are big, like the man himself. I will always remember the first page of For Whom the Bell Tolls, the prologue, a poem by John Donne from which the title derives:

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

Even as a fallow youth, I understood the sentiment, that we are all so connected and dependent on one another. With Groupees, we try and abide by that sense of community, both in the social layer that we have built and continue to evolve at the site but so too in our commitment to supporting charities from around the World.

While we do support many different causes, including more mainstream, global organizations that do great work, we particularly like to support more individual causes. During the month of December, we decided to partner with Unbound, a charity organization that supports children in need from around the globe through a simple sponsorship program.

We picked 10 children and will now continue to support these children and their families throughout the year–and possibly beyond. Our intention is to raise more money beyond simple sponsorship so we can do additional things for the families like buy school supplies, birthday presents for the kids and, hopefully, even add more children to our Groupees family. The charity selection for Be Mine 17 includes the option to donate 20% of your contribution to this program.

Here are our initial 10 kids:

Rose, age 13, lives in Kenya                                   Virginia, age 6, Guatemala

Enjoys singing and reading storybooks.               Enjoys singing and playing with dolls.

Georgina, age 6, Nicaragua                                Alfredo, age 4, Nicaragua

Enjoys drawing and washing dishes.                  Enjoys playing ball and with toy cars.

Collins, age 14, Kenya                                             Teresa, age 6, Philippines

Enjoys drawing and playing sports.                       Enjoys singing and dancing.

Alexander, age 10, Philippines                   Ariana, age 6, Bolivia

Enjoys dancing and playing basketball.      Enjoys drawing and playing with her brother.

Colline, age 7, Uganda                                    Gonzaga, 21, Uganda

Enjoys math and playing football.                  Enjoys dancing, reading and architecture.

Thank you for your ongoing support and look forward to continuing to grow our Groupees family!

Your friend,

Jonny

Jonny Cappuccino

I'm a man. Sometimes I imagine myself as a superhero. I like beer, women, games, music, books, film, sports, painting and cats.

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