Our Story

In 2011, Zaidy Cárdenas, now the Maestro Cares Foundation Executive Director, was volunteering at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

For many years, despite limited resources, the orphanage had provided a safe, nurturing home for young girls. There were a growing number of requests to accept boys there, but the orphanage simply did not have the space or the resources to make this possible.

Zaidy then discovered that the boys were living separately and wanted to see the situation firsthand. What she found was a three-bedroom house with scarce resources and more than 40 young boys living there. Deeply moved and called to help, Zaidy enlisted the support of her father, Henry Cárdenas, the CEO and President of Cárdenas Marketing Network, Inc., who, in turn, reached out to international music icon and longtime friend, Marc Anthony. Their visit with the boys resulted in an immediate connection and led to the inception of the Maestro Cares Foundation.

In 2012, the Maestro Cares Foundation was born with the mission to build homes and schools for disadvantaged children in Latin America and the United States.

Maestro Cares Foundation’s (MCF) very first project was funding the construction of Orfanato Niños de Cristo, a boys’ orphanage, in La Romana, Dominican Republic, in 2012. Maestro Cares Foundation established its roots by investing in the construction of essential community capital projects like orphanages and schools. MCF soon recognized the need for additional support to help these established organizations grow and thrive. As a result, Maestro Cares Foundation has since expanded its approach to include multiple avenues of support.

And there is still much to be done for our children and youth – Maestro Cares Foundation will continue to provide safe and loving environments for many more orphaned and disadvantaged children, where they will have access to education and recreational programs.

In 2015, the foundation expanded its financial support into the area of education for underprivileged students.

Maestro Cares Foundation (MCF) funded Project MABA, an initiative aimed at implementing early STEM education in Cusco and Lima, Peru. That same year, MCF launched its scholarship program, awarding academically talented, underprivileged Latino/a students life-changing scholarships to pursue their dreams and become agents of change in their communities.

In 2018, Maestro Cares Foundation expanded its grantmaking portfolio to include the construction of community centers, where people can connect and access therapeutic, academic, and interpersonal resources.

With the goal of strengthening relationships and supporting the mental health of community members, the Aldeas Infantiles community centers, Centros de Desarrollo, in both San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, and Cali, Colombia, as well as the Tim McCormick Community Center in Chicago, IL, were established. These projects provided fostered and orphaned children with supportive environments and strong community ties, helping them thrive and work toward their goals of permanency.

In 2022 and 2023, Maestro Cares Foundation expanded its grants to fund organizations serving underprivileged children from rural areas who lack access to medical specialists, most of whom are based in city centers.

Casa de Acogida Corporación Renal Infantil Mater in Santiago, Chile and Albergue Inspira in Lima, Peru, serve as temporary homes for patients and their families while receiving care at nearby hospitals. Maestro Cares Foundation also funded new CAR-T equipment for Fundación Pérez Scremini, giving patients access to cutting-edge cancer treatment.

Although Maestro Cares Foundation’s outreach has broadened, our mission remains the same: to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged children and communities in Latin America and the United States. There is still much work to be done. By joining us in our mission, you too can help the children of today survive and the leaders of tomorrow thrive.