Costa Rica rural community support fund

Last May 1^st, we took advantage of the Costa Rican Labor Day to celebrate it in the best way: working for a good cause.

On April 30^th and May 1^st, we carried out the second delivery of food packages and cleaning supplies to 44 older adults and seven families in extreme poverty from the communities of Los Planes, Agujitas, Los Angeles, Progreso, Rancho Quemado, and Vanegas, all from Drake Bay n the Osa Peninsula. These packages will ease the burden on these families for at least two or three weeks.

We have been supporting many older adults living in very precarious conditions; many of them have been neglected by their families and live in dilapidated houses. In the community of Vanegas, we found an older adult with evident health problems, living alone. Likewise, a married couple in the Rancho Quemado community, in critical poverty conditions and a very lamentable state of health. Generally, these older people live with a government pension that barely gives them enough to survive on the bare minimum.

In addition to the 44 older adults, another seven families received a supplies package. They were prioritized due to their state of poverty, lack of income, or lack of job opportunities. The vast majority are single mothers, heads of households with 3 or 4 children.

At the end of March, during the “Little by Little” campaign with GlobalGiving, we managed to raise about $ 6,500. On April 6^th and 7^th, we made our first delivery, and we reached 53 families. In total, with this delivery, we have delivered 107 food packages. We have spent $3,800, leaving a balance of $ 2,700 to go towards our third delivery.  We are hopeful that we can raise about USD 500 support to these families for the fourth time. 

These deliveries are possible thanks to all those who supported us with their donations and the great work of our coworkers Mayra, Alex, and Helena, who for two months have been working hard on identifying families, purchasing products, and preparing the packages. We are deeply grateful to Don Javier who accompanied us on this occasion and to Mrs. Catalina, representative of the Hotel Corcovado & Drake Inn, who provided us with transportation to move at the most remote places of Drake.

We are also refocusing in promoting agriculture and self-sufficient backyards among local communities to provide local populations with long term options in these times of uncertainty.

If you want to help us to keep getting some support to local communities, don´t hesitate to contact me at alejandra@corcovadofoundation.org , you can donate GlobalGiving

If you want to read about the first delivery, click here