Help Brighten the Lives of Children in Poverty

This past year, as in previous years, CAA members worked together to brighten the lives of children in poverty by purchasing and delivering toys to them at Christmas. This year, however, there was an additional dimension of inspiration and kindness added to CAA’s Christmas giving activities.

When Janice, a CAA member, was helping deliver the toys to the children, most of whose families were seasonal migrant workers living in challenging conditions, she noticed that many of the children were not wearing shoes. A close friend of hers, Dorothy, was coming from the US in January to visit and Janice asked Dorothy if she would be willing to scour a few Goodwill stores for children’s shoes and bring them with her. Dorothy agreed and then had an even better idea!

Dorothy belongs to a group called Buy Nothing (buynothingproject.org), where people give away items for free that they no longer need to those in the group who need them. When Dorothy explained to her local group that there were children in Costa Rica that really needed shoes, the response was overwhelming—FIFTY-ONE pairs of gently used children’s shoes were donated!

Once Dorothy and the shoes arrived in Costa Rica, CAA members swung into action, cleaning those shoes that needed it and revisiting the migrant communities to find little feet that fit the shoes in the sizes that were available. Over half the fifty-one pairs that Dorothy brought were given to the migrant children. The remaining pairs were donated to a local non-profit that, among other things, runs an after-school program for the children of the impoverished families they serve who live in an extremely poor district of San Ramon. The children are able to use the points they earn for reading and doing homework to “purchase” shoes in the organization's store.

Thanks to the ever-widening circle of generosity of CAA members and friends, there are now happy smiles and happy feet for at least fifty-one children in need in our community!

Muchas gracias!

Throughout the world one of the many traditions that is associated with Christmas is that of gift giving. For children in particular, receiving a gift at Christmas is exciting and makes them feel special. However, for families that live in extreme poverty and struggle to just put food on the table, giving their child a gift at Christmas is an unattainable dream. And because Community Action Alliance (CAA) is committed to brightening the lives of children in poverty, we stepped in to help again this year as in previous years.

Members of CAA’s Board of Directors identified a number of families with small children who needed help. December is the coffee picking season here in Costa Rica and many migrant workers come with their families from neighboring countries to pick coffee and hopefully earn enough money to sustain themselves for the next year back home. While here, they live on a basic substance level so Christmas presents for their children are not within even the remotest possibility. In addition, there were other Costa Rican families who are living in extreme poverty conditions that were added to the list.

Throughout November and early December, CAA members and friends generously provided the funds to purchase a variety of toys and gifts for children from ages 1-9.  Dolls, trucks, soccer balls, games, stuffed animals were collected and wrapped by happy volunteers. And over a two-day period, CAA elves delivered the gifts to almost 60 boys and girls creating smiles not only for the children but for the parents as well.

While the purpose of this activity was to provide gifts of the season to others, we actually received a significant gift for ourselves – the knowledge that through our goodwill and effort we were able to make a difference in the lives of many children and their families in our adopted community.  We express our sincere thanks to all who contributed.

May your 2024 bring you many opportunities for joy, gratitude, and service.