Introducing the Blok Foundation

Written: Jul 8, 2024

I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela.

This country means a lot to me. It's people, it's food, it's culture. It's both beautiful and magnificent. Nature is vast here. Those that have seen Pixar's movie "Up" will know what I'm talking about ;).

However, it's political and economical situation has been dire over the past 2 decades.

Corruption at the top has led to poverty at the bottom, and I've seen how this has drastically diminished the quality of life of most Venezuelans.

People scouring trash cans for food.

People losing weight because they can't afford meals.

Kidnapping and assaults almost becoming regular occurrences.

For reference, Venezuela's currency is devaluing at a rate of 150% each year, meaning that savings money lose half of their purchasing power each year.

It's nuts.

I've been very lucky and privileged in my life to have an out from this cruel reality, with my family always having my back and unconditionally supporting me and my dreams. I moved to the U.S. when I was 17 to receive a world-class Engineering education that then led me to work at the best companies in the world like Microsoft and Procter & Gamble.

It's a lucky hand I was dealt and I've done my best to play it correctly.

Now I get to work on my own ideas right from the world's tech mecca, SF!

It's all going great and I couldn't be happier :D.

How lucky I am!

But I want to give back to the place that saw me grow up.

The place that always smiled back at me with beaches and mountains. With beautiful people and kindness all around. With some of that Venezuelan sazón.

Introducing the Blok Foundation.

100% of all proceeds from Emergency Unbloks will go to help out under-represented families in Venezuela, starting with my neighbors back home.

This is Margarita:

And these are her grandkids:

The first $1000 in Emergency Unbloks will be routed to these kids' education, as they currently are enrolled in an extremely shitty public school where teachers rarely attend!

Then we'll expand our efforts and work together with other Venezuelan charities to keep on helping out people in need, like these handsome boys:

I'll be reporting back as the Foundation efforts get underway.

— Dani ⊙.

P.S: If you want to contribute to the Foundation independently, please send me an email. Any amount counts :).

dani@blok.so