Key Takeaways
- As part of the Advisors Give Back program, a Kindness Movement initiative, ALG Vacations® “adopted” an underserved school in Miches – an area slated as the next eco-luxury resort destination in Dominican Republic – for all give-back and voluntourism efforts in that country for 2025.
- Thanks to an active community of travel advisors, ALGV’s partner destination management company Amstar, and generous donations, the group was able to completely refurbish Escuela Aquiles Peña.
- By the project’s end in December, over $60,000 in supplies and funds were donated, as well as considerable labor by conference, reward trip, and voluntourism attendees across agencies and corporations.
ALG Vacations® is proud to be one of – if not the – most rewarding tour operators to partner with when it comes to the travel advisor community. With our Elite Accounts program, each tier offering various increasing levels of appreciation for production, we offer significant benefits to thank our partners for their loyalty, including an annual trip that celebrates their achievement.
However, while our brand holds these relationships tantamount, knowing that it’s the support of advisors that keep us moving forward, our gratitude doesn’t end there. And with kindness at the heart of everything we do, we make sure that we find ways to give back to the destinations that give us their all … and offer the advisor community a way to join us.
In 2025, ALG Vacations® partnered with Escuela Aquiles Peña, an underserved three-classroom school in rural Los Guineos of Miches, Dominican Republic for a year of focused giving back. 
Why did ALGV choose this destination and school?
A community historically dependent on fishing, agriculture, and tourism, recent resort developments have led the island nation’s Ministry of Tourism to proclaim it the “new luxury frontier” for Dominican Republic. But where ALGV sees opportunity for resort and tourism entities, we also see opportunity to show our gratitude to the local community for welcoming our customers.
“Amstar used to visit one of the houses opposite the school on an excursion that was previously offered,” says Michele Fisher, Director of Sales Operations for ALG Vacations®. From there, she tells us, the managing director observed the children playing across the street, and started thinking, how could someone help the students learn in a healthier environment? So, when ALGV started looking for a cause to support in the area, it was top of mind, and Amstar met with Miches’ school board with ideas already of how and why we could help the school.
How did ALGV and Amstar give back to the school?
We were delighted to kick things off with the school with our Kindness Conference and Kindness Connection at the then just-opened Zemi Miches Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton. During that event, 133 total participants across agencies and ALGV brands and media rolled up their sleeves to get the give-back going, working on site to support vital facility improvements as well as raising over $4,500 in monetary donations for that initial trip.
In the months following, donations continued to roll in, as Amstar collected stationery items and money for sundries and ALGV’s Punta Cana Pros on the Go mega-FAM yielded enough donation participation to acquire learning materials and recreational equipment.
Over $18,000 in funds were raised by November, when our Elite Diamond Preferred honorees joined us at Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection’s new twin properties, Secrets® and Dreams® Playa Esmeralda in Miches, for our final give-back project for 2025. On that trip, 47 amazing travel advisors and ALGV and Amstar team members worked together to turn care into action, compassion into real change.
“Amstar played an active role in facilitating and supporting the refurbishment of the school at the beginning and the end of the project,” Fisher shares, particularly Donna Notley, Laura Cordero, and Robert Taveras Velos.
The DMC hired a maintenance team to conduct a site inspection and provide a detailed quotation outlining the scope of work required, and from there, the staff started their work with eight people from the maintenance team, readying the premises and packaging equipment so that the ALGV and advisor groups could pick up the baton. Amstar employees then joined in on the construction efforts and handled the cleanup.
Meanwhile, ALGV was happy to match the amount of money raised by advisors and donate additional funds to complete the project, bringing the total investment up to $60,000.
Together, we are proud to have made a lasting impact for the 42 students, ages four to 12, and their community. Fisher added, “The school is so pretty and clean, offering a more comfortable learning environment, with a secure wall providing the freedom to play in the grounds during break time. The rebuilding and painting of the basketball court has brought so much joy to all the students, something that is not found usually in this community.”
What were the results of this give-back?
“I think working on one project for the entire year really has an impact,” Donna Notley, Managing Director for ALGV’s DMC partner Amstar, says. Fisher agrees, saying, “Choosing one cause to support with all trips made a huge difference … our hearts are full.”
And we couldn’t agree more.
What projects were completed?
Altogether, over $60,000 was raised for the school over the course of the year and tangible, material changes meant to last were completed. Among those were:
- Urgent quality of life improvements: the creation of a dedicated lunch space, a fully remodeled cafeteria, full bathroom renovations (tile, toilets, stalls, sinks, and showers), and window treatment, lighting, and ceiling fan installation to allow students to learn in a more comfortable setting
- Functional improvements: remodeling of the kitchen and installation of storage and sinks, full repainting of the interior and exterior space
- Safety improvements: secure fencing and a wall, photovoltaic activation for night lighting in common areas, and the installation of new landscaping and gravel to prevent flooding
- Recreational improvements: restoration of the basketball court, a new playground, swing set repair, and grass for a lawn
Plus, donations that included computers, books, maps, school supplies, whiteboards, sporting equipment, and outdoor toys will make a world of difference for the students and teachers at the school.
These efforts have been tremendously appreciated by the people of this community.
School director Odalis Feliz Reyes shared, “Our reaction to the ALG Vacation initiative was a mix of emotions, especially gratitude, for us to think that people so far away geographically but close in heart, were interested in our children and our community was a great surprise, and we accepted it with great solidarity and gratitude.”
The Bottom Line
In “adopting” one cause for the entire year, an underserved school called Aquiles Peña, ALG Vacations® has been able to make a significant difference for the community of Los Guineos, Miches, Dominican Republic, a destination projected to be the next luxury resort hot spot for the country. Through a series of voluntourism, educational, and incentive trips hosted by ALGV, hundreds of travel advisors, company team members, and Amstar DMC staffers were able to complete their goal of a full renovation – an active example that Kindness Carries On at ALGV.
