As we announced in our last newsletter, we are busy planning our first Annual Volunteer Appreciation Night, which will be held on August 14, 2009 in the Center on Halsted in Chicago. This year’s award recipient will be Danilo Gabb from Bambu on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation. We are really hoping Danilo will be able to obtain a US Visa so he can join us in person.

Our staff and board members are putting a lot of time and effort into this event and we are working hard to get everyone there: local staff from Costa Rica, past volunteers, local community members and our supporters. Our sincerest and deepest appreciation goes out to Modesto “Tico” Valle, the Executive Director of the Center, for donating the space and beverages.

DaniloThe evening will begin with a cocktail hour from 6pm to 7pm, after which we’ll be showing a short, 10-minute video presentation and introducing our new partners, Children Incorporated, who have invited some very special guests. After presenting Danilo’s award, we’ll all enjoy some scrumptious BBQ food.

The next day, Saturday August 15, we are welcoming all who want to join us in the morning to an open board meeting. We will be discussing how to improve our services to both our volunteers and our projects, as well as doing some strategic planning for the future. We’d love to have you there to share your experience, thoughts and ideas.

If you are planning on joining us, please send an email to event@tropicaladventures.com to RSVP and let us know. We need to know how many people to plan for. Plus, we hope to be able to help you out by sharing what we have found out about affordable lodging and transportation. We hope to have a website ready soon with more information.

We understand that for some people it is not possible to come all the way to Chicago. If you can’t make it but you do want to help support us and Danilo…you can! Here are a couple of ideas:

  1. You could write thank you and congratulation letters to Danilo, which we will bind and present to Danilo the night of the award. No doubt, just hearing the appreciation of past volunteers will bring Danilo to tears. Feel free to mail the letters to our address below.
  2. Send your favorite pictures! We want to show our new friends in Chicago what it is we do. And your pictures could speak thousands of words! If you have some photos you are willing to share with us, please email them to event@tropicaladventures.com and we’ll print them out and share them with our guests in Chicago.
  3. We would love to cover the expenses of the event. At this point we still need to cover the cost of the food, printing of invitations and postage. A couple of very generous supporters have donated air miles for a round-trip ticket to get Danilo to the event, so we are now within just $3,000 of covering all the costs. Please consider making a donation by clicking here now. No amount is too small!

    For more Information or to register for the event, please click here


Thank you all for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!