West Michigan Celebration of Stories Highlights
March 25, 2026
Love, Honduras
Dear Friend,
Whether you were with us in person or celebrated from afar, we are deeply grateful for the many ways you participated in our West Michigan Celebration of Stories events!
Take a look at some of the highlights below— and if you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry! You can still enjoy recordings of the speakers and dancers below.
- We connected with over 700 people across the 3 events (Holland, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids), and 43% of you were brand new to ASJ!
- We celebrated all of the gifts Honduras has to offer through the theme of "Love, Honduras". We ate a LOT of good Honduran food, we watched a video of folkloric dancers from Nueva Suyapa filmed at our office in Tegucigalpa (watch it here), and we also watched two live folkloric dances performed at the event (watch them here).
- Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $162,000 towards our $200,000 goal - all of which will be matched! If you would like to help us get the rest of the way towards our goal, there is still time to give!
Recordings
You can watch the keynote talks from Kurt Ver Beek and Sara Pineda - or, feel free to forward on to a friend that you wish had been there to hear them!
Pictures
Here are some highlights from our Celebration of Stories in Holland, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids.
A Spotlight On Our Dedicated Volunteers
How Hondurans Live Out The Joy of Democratic Participation
A Reflection from ASJ-Canada Board President, Matt Van Geest
Words from the Executive Director
Thirsty For Justice
Hondurans cast their ballots during the November 30, 2025, general election, which saw historic voter turnout and a peaceful process supported by more than 12,000 national and international election observers working to safeguard transparency.
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
A call to action for Honduras
The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
