Wedding Couple Chooses to Make Global Impact

By Making HOPE a Part of Wedding Day

When Danielle Gonzales Martin and Efrain Martin Jr. decided to get married this past fall, they were faced with the usual question from their families and friends: “Where are you registered?”

Receiving wedding gifts really wasn’t important to the young Californian couple, especially because they had already established a household. “We didn’t need anything,” says Danielle. This was part of the reason for their decision to ask wedding guests to donate to a non-profit organization.

After a little research, the couple chose Project HOPE as their charity of choice. “I wanted to find an organization that helps women and children specifically since we are parents to a 16-month-old little boy,” says Danielle.

Project HOPE’s work in the Dominican Republic was also appealing to the couple because that was where their ceremony was to take place.

“For nearly two decades, HOPE has been improving access to maternal and child health services for 70,000 women and children in impoverished neighborhoods of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic,” reads the couple’s wedding fundraiser page. “In lieu of wedding gifts, we invite you to make a gift on our behalf to support Project HOPE’s efforts to improve maternal and child health services in the Dominican Republic. Together, we can bring hope and healing to so many mothers and children!”

Most guests fulfilled the couple’s request – although some opted to make a donation and also give them a traditional gift. Overall, guests thought the couple’s gesture was thoughtful.

Thanks, Danielle and Efrain, for making HOPE part of your wedding day.

Learn more about using the important occasions in your life to fundraise for Project HOPE online through the HOPE in Action program – a way to start small yet create positive global impact.