I admit I've been under pressure raising money for the Scholarships with the Villa Raffle and raising money for Hurricane Dean Emergency relief. It's a challenge to ask people to buy raffle tickets -- and then come back at them and ask them to donate to fix up the community after it got slammed by a hurricane. (Some of them must be thinking, "If I win the raffle, will I be staying in a villa that's been destroyed by a hurricane?") And, yes, raising money for two things simultaneously is very poor timing, but none of us expected Dean when the villa raffle was set in motion.

These challenges are made easier, however, by many things. Here are just some examples:

* We are getting some donations from villa owners -- people who have repairs of their own to be done.

* People like Jane Wingate are donating the proceeds from what they sell to make a living.

* People from the company where Rebecca worked more than 10 years ago are donating through Treasure Beach Foundation because their company offers matching funds to U.S.-based nonprofits.

* Guests who have not even been to Treasure Beach yet are donating. A case in point is the young couple who will be renting from us in October for their honeymoon. We received their payment yesterday, along with an extra check toward the hurricane relief fund.

Thank you, one and all. Please keep the donations coming.

karen keep up all the good work, I unfortunatley can not donate as i have familey in both billy's bay and flagaman who need help, I know you look after some of the familey Verlyn Laura Aman and Jenny who are very dear to us and for this I thank you words do not express what we feel as verlyn's brother ( my husband is only a penioner ) so money is tight but when things do settle then perhaps we can, I just wanted to express my gratiude to you and all the others that do what you do.
with much love and respect
Paula and Denham Ritchie

Got our raffle tickets in the mail today. That is a very classy package Karen put together. And the photo of the scholarship winners is charming. Every one of those kids looks bright, eager, and fresh-faced. You can't help smiling when that photo falls out of the envelope.