Costa Rica Airport Hotel Donates Thousands of Books to Local Schools
After nearly four years of collecting books from guests, this San Jose Airport Hotel is now approaching their goal of being able to donate 5,000 books to local schools in the La Garita, Alajuela region of Costa Rica.
- (1888PressRelease) October 24, 2011 - Through the generosity of hundreds of guests from all over the World, this Costa Rica Airport Hotel is nearing their initial goal of 5,000 books donated to local schools. The Owners and Staff wish to thank all who have generously made room in their suitcases for these donations!
To have this kind of success in only three and a half years has been a humbling experience for all at Hotel La Rosa and has left many local school Principals amazed at the generosity of people from countries they have only seen on a map! Though clearly difficult to put a monetary value on these donations, it is estimated that the resale value alone in Costa Rica is in the area of $50,000.00 USD. Of course, the new book purchase cost for the local school system would be far greater.
The great cost of books for Costa Rican Schools means that only the most important books for learning can be purchased. Novels, picture books etc are very much a secondary concern to having sufficient pens and paper, rulers etc. Sadly this is resulting in a culture-wide loss of the love of reading.
With the kind assistance of a local Canadian expat and a local Costa Rican teacher, the employees of Hotel La Rosa de America have been able to organize, sort into appropriate age groups, source deserving schools, and deliver over 3,500 books so far in English, French and Spanish. They have also been able to donate large numbers of schools supplies. Some of the benefit schools, statistics and pictures can be found on the Hotel La Rosa website donations page devoted to the project. http://www.larosasdeamerica.com/book-donation-program/ Currently there are approximately 650 further books ready for donation. The Hotel is considering donating them directly to the Women's Club of Costa Rica as they have excellent non-profit school programs for Costa Rica Public Schools.
Again, Hotel La Rosa Ownership and staff wish to thank all the hundreds of La Rosa guests who have participated in this program to date. These donations from guests traveling to Costa Rica have made a significant difference in the Alajuela and La Garita communities. All donated books are stamped as donated by Hotel La Rosa, so that students know and appreciate that people from many foreign countries do care what happens outside their borders. In the future, the Hotel hopes to expand the program to include all public schools in Costa Rica, and to team up with a non-profit, charity organization such as the Women's Club of Costa Rica in order to assist with book distribution and to help facilitate this dream.
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