Warm holiday greetings to you and your loved ones from all of us in Costa Rica at Tropical Adventures!
As we prepare for our year-end holiday activities and begin to implement our exciting new 2008 projects, I thought it only fitting to look back and share with you our accomplishments and learnings from the last couple of years and thank you for your generous support.
Since its inception in 2005, our organization has grown at lightning speed. In just this year alone along with our over 220 volunteers from around the world, our small foundation made quite a mark as we:
- Raised funds to replace the roof for the Hone Creek Elementary School
- Began a project to grow organic food to feed the poor in Puerto Viejo de Limon
- Taught English and tutored hundreds of children throughout the country
- Saved thousands of sea turtle eggs from being poached
- Saved hundreds of iguanas from being eaten or killed
- Painted a high school in Guanacaste
- Taught environmental education to hundreds of school children
- Planted over 6,000 trees and medicinal plants
- Cleaned countless of miles of beaches
- Painted a retirement home on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation
- Hosted an international corporate “green retreat” with 125 participants
More amazing to me, however, are the personal stories from our host families and children in our schools. Watching them prosper financially, educationally and emotionally over the last couple of years has been the most rewarding part of my job.
Sometimes it’s as simple as watching a family earn the funds to be able to buy a front door where there were none before, or be able to buy themselves a stove for cooking. Other times I see children developing stronger skills in school or stronger self-esteem. I see these positive changes as a direct effect of the presence of our amazing volunteers and our ongoing projects in our communities. It truly makes me proud to be part of this organization.
In 2008, in addition to our ongoing projects we plan to open a Spanish language school, expand our work with sea turtles underneath the water, begin working with a dolphin research program and a monkey refuge center, run a Summer Camp for families, lead eight free medical and dental clinics throughout Central America and expand our educational programs in our elementary schools. By 2009, we are working towards implementing a program to help drug addicts and creating a rehabilitation program. There are currently only a shocking total of 8 beds available in Costa Rica in their social medical program for those needing rehabilitation assistance, with a waiting list of thousands.
As you know, the cost of these projects is great and does not get covered by just the price of our volunteer packages.
As is true for many non-profits, we are running at a deficit. Right now we are about $40,000 in debt. However, we’re happy to say we have a solid, 2-year plan in place, which we believe will enable us to be fully self-supportive. In the meantime, we are hoping to find a way to pull ourselves out of the current debt that we have.
In the event that you may be planning any year-end giving, we’d love for you to consider Tropical Adventures. Any amount would help. Even if you only have $1 to spare, we’ll gladly accept your generous gift. We accept credit cards, PayPal and checks.
To make a donation by credit card or PayPal, simply click here to visit our secure website or call our toll-free number at 1-800-832-9419. Checks may be made out to the “Tropical Adventures Foundation” and may be sent to our US address:
Tropical Adventures Foundation
1775 E Palm Canyon Dr.
Suite H-341
Palm Springs CA 92264
We’re also offering a wide variety of Tropical Adventures apparel and gift items available at our Online Marketplace, such as t-shirts, hats, mugs, calendars, etc. Proceeds go directly to support our programs.
We can’t thank you enough for all your generous and loving support from this year. Please know you have our best wishes for a safe and wonderful holiday season. And we hope to hear from you soon!
Scott Pralinsky
Executive Director