As many of you know we have been working to become a stand-alone 501(c)(3) organization and we are excited to announce that this goal has been achieved! We are officially Impacto Ministry, Inc. It has been a hard, sometimes teary road, especially for Sarah and Tracy (Impacto's bookkeeper) as they had to do most of the work!
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry we will have to be very purposeful about being IRS compliant. This will not change at all what Impacto does as a ministry. Our number one priority is, and always will be, to share the Gospel with as many people as possible! However, we have one adjustment to share with you. At the recommendation of our accountant, we will be changing the way our donations are done. We will no longer call it Happy Tummies San Juan, Happy Tummies Panyebar, and Happy Tummies School. From now on, donations should be made to Happy Tummies. All funds will continue to go towards providing nourishing meals, vitamins, daily Bible stories, regular check-ups by Dr. Natareno, tutoring by certified teachers, and all the other things that have always been a part of Happy Tummies Ministry.
Doing it this way, we will be able to use funds at all the sites so that when one is a bit short on funding, we don’t have to close it but can draw from the Happy Tummies fund instead of having designated site funds. We have over 400 children participating and do not want to have to turn any of them away; in fact, we hope to open more Happy Tummies programs this year and in coming years. You may not be aware of this but the children that participate in Happy Tummies do attend public schools. School attendance is a requirement to attend Happy Tummies. Plus, we still do home visits to all the children's families and we encourage them to attend church. So many have come to Christ through the Happy Tummies Ministry and we give God all the glory, praise, and thanks.
Again, Impacto’s ministry efforts have not changed. We will continue to do all that God has called us to do. Our hope is that we can now apply for grants and add other ways of raising funding for our ministry projects. We must make sure we're being IRS compliant, continue being good stewards, and showing God's thoroughness. Please feel free to email us if you have any questions.