BeachCorps

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BeachCorps

BeachCorps impact travel uses great vacations and people-to-people engagement to empower worthy nonp A single grain of sand means little. Like the idea?
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There are many excellent volunteer vacations (and other not so good voluntourism), but none are based on great vacations supporting worthy nonprofits through people-to-people engagement. It's not about changing the world in one vacation; it's about using regular, fun vacations to empower existing great causes, little by little, one day at a time. It's about projects where the heroes are the locals

working to improve their lives and their communities, not the volunteers. This is the philosophy of the BeachCorps motto: "A Little Grain of Sand." One volunteer's impact means little; a hundred volunteers' impact over time means a lot. Then follow us on social media. See www.beachcorps.com for more info. The Dominican Republic is perfect for developing this new kind of tourism, with it beautiful beaches and hotels, proximity to the USA, abundant quality volunteer opportunities, and vibrant culture that welcomes foreign tourists. BeachCorps will develop mass market “voluntourism” in the Dominican Republic the way ecotourism developed in Costa Rica, creating a new tool for helping people everywhere, while avoiding the mistakes of other voluntourism models that contributed to a culture of dependency. Unlike other impact travel models, BeachCorps will combine the power of four channels of support for established, worthy nonprofit causes: 1) the work of volunteers, 2) direct donations from volunteers to worthy causes, 3) people-to-people engagement that educates, inspires and uplifts, and 4) the strength of social media so volunteers can testify to worthy causes once they confirm them in person. BeachCorps is founded on sound sustainable development principles and lessons learned from existing volunteer vacations. BeachCorps: 1) avoids one-off projects designed to please volunteers, creating instead sustainable projects with real impact; 2) knows that the funds volunteers contribute have more impact than the work; 3) empowers beneficiaries and avoids a culture of dependency; 4) partners with other businesses to create win-win scenarios; 5) knows that the best way to help people is by helping to develop great nonprofits and networks of support; 6) ensures volunteer work supports and does not undermine local employment, and; 7) promotes transparency by clearly separating vacation expenses from donations to a worthy nonprofit cause. 100% of your donation goes to the cause.

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202-838-6897

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https://linktr.ee/beachcorps

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Fun #RealDominicanCulture!

Fun typical Dominican culture in a typical Dominican colmado! The Spanish roughly translates to "When you double down and don't owe anyone" 😎

BeachCorps will Turn Sustainable Travel On its Head!

BeachCorps is holding a Facebook Live to celebrate our story being published in Travel Research Online and to explain how the BeachCorps model is going to turn sustainable travel and voluntourism on its head! #SustainableTravel #Rotary #DominicanRepublic #Voluntourism #VolunteerVacation #ImpactTravel #SustainableTravel #PlasticPollution

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Let’s Reinvent “Voluntourism” Together

Hi, I’m David Searby. Together with my Chief Inanimate Recycling Officer the BeachCorps Beach Bum and some amazing local business and nonprofit partners we are BeachCorps. And we are doing it currently FOR FREE! In 2016, I retired from the United States Foreign Service after 27 wonderful years wandering the world serving my country, mostly in Latin America. In 2008, the idea bulb for my company flashed as I was being interviewed on a radio station while serving my second tour in the Dominican Republic. I had started my diplomatic career in 1989 stamping visas in Santo Domingo and years later had returned to this country I loved dearly, this time as the Embassy Press Attaché.

The radio host asked me: “So what do you like about the Dominican Republic?” I began with the obvious: “Well, of course I love the lovely beaches and hotels.” The radio show in Puerto Plata was a few minutes away from world famous “Kite Beach” of Cabarete, where windsurfers and kitesurfers criss-cross the waves daily in soaring, gravity-defying lines.

A short walk from Kite Beach, I had also just seen first-hand the inspiring educational work of an American nonprofit where a friend of mine worked. The Dream Project wasn’t just providing education to kids from poor backgrounds. This Dream was providing hope. It was fun to watch. As the kids played and learned, I realized that Dominican tourism authorities were undervaluing one precious national resource: their own people.

So in response to my radio host, I added: “But I also love some of the great nonprofits that are active here. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get some of the tourists who come to your hotels to support the great nonprofits nearby?” After that lightning bolt moment, I lost focus on the interview as my mind raced ahead.

Flash forward ten years and two years after I retired the BeachCorps concept is starting to take shape in beautiful Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. BeachCorps is a new kind of impact travel that combines a great beach vacation with an excursion from your hotel to support a real nonprofit cause. BeachCorps is the only impact travel that finds the best local nonprofits, not some “cause” invented to please a tourist. In this Beta phase I encourage folks to help me develop and improve a kind of tourism that doesn’t exist in the world. If this tourism model works in the Dominican Republic as BeachCorps, it can work anywhere in the world under a thousand different names.

The Dominican Republic is perfect for developing this new kind of tourism, with it beautiful beaches and hotels, proximity to the USA, abundant quality volunteer opportunities, and vibrant culture that welcomes foreign tourists. BeachCorps will develop mass market “voluntourism” in the Dominican Republic the way ecotourism developed in Costa Rica, creating a new tool for helping people everywhere, while avoiding the mistakes of other voluntourism models that contributed to a culture of dependency. Unlike other impact travel models, BeachCorps will combine the power of four channels of support for established, worthy nonprofit causes: 1) the work of volunteers, 2) direct donations from volunteers to worthy causes, 3) people-to-people engagement that educates, inspires and uplifts, and 4) the strength of social media so volunteers can testify to worthy causes once they confirm them in person. Right now I’m not accepting any fees for service, but my end hope is to create a benefit corporation model, kind of a hybrid between a nonprofit and a private company. Every agreement I sign with nonprofits will require me to give back 1/2 of BeachCorps profits (if I ever make any!) to nonprofits and sustainability PR campaigns.

I will show you the real Dominican Republic I love, warts and all. And in this Beta phase I am accepting no payment. It’s a pretty great country, and there are many other countries where the BeachCorps model can work. Want to help me create this new form of tourism? Then send me an email at [email protected]!