Post Delayed!
“Friends”…this has been one very busy week attending a conference. Before the week started, I was involved in a fund-raising activity for the “Friends of Copey”. The results were very good and I will discuss this in more detail in my next Post scheduled for this coming Monday. I thought there would be some down time over the past weekend to prepare and submit my weekly Post scheduled this past Monday but that just did not happen.
This actually worked out fine since the Learning Center has been closed last week and this week for their annual mid-year break. As a result, there is not much news to report at this time out of Copey. Things will start running again on Monday and we will be back on schedule.
We are continuing to add new “Friends” to this project. And our new “Friends” and others often ask three basic questions about “Friends of Copey”. I am sure you veteran “Friends” already know the answers but I wanted to take this opportunity to share this information in case we have someone who is checking in for the first time and just wants to know in very simple terms how we function. So, following are the questions and my short responses to each:
- What kind of organization is “Friends”? Very simply, we are a very unique and non-traditional organization. There are no officers, no meetings, no minutes, and no administrative costs. By design, we are merely a collection of “friends” who share a common interest in the educational well-being of kids in the small rural community of Copey, Costa Rica. I estimate there are 150 total regular followers of this Blog. Over the three plus years using the Blog, there has been a steady increase in followers but at the same time, followers move and are no longer interested. This is all very natural.
- Are there membership fees or dues required to be a “Friend of Copey”? There are no membership fees or dues. In fact, there is no obligation to spend any personal funds to support the Learning Center. There are many different ways to support our efforts since more than 70% of our support is non-financial.
- If there are no fees or dues required, how does “Friends of Copey” obtain the funds to support some of the projects? I would like to say it is “Just Magic”. But the answer is much more than that. A far better response would be “Just Miracles” instead. “Friends of Copey”, especially for those closest to the everyday experiences, know things happen at times without explanation. Although many of the “Friends” are “believers” and support this project with their prayers, we also have other “Friends” more orientated towards strong positive thinking. Both believe that we can accomplish great things. Then, we are also blessed to have “Friends” who may be prayer warriors and/or positive thinkers, but who also feel inclined to make donations to support one or more of our financial needs. I assure you that after three plus years, it takes all three types of “Friends” to do what we do and accomplish what we have so far.
Annually, we request and receive donations to support our Anne G. Broady Scholarship program. We also receive donations to help cover part of the Executive Director’s salary. At other times during the year we receive donations to help with school supplies and materials. This Spring we conducted a very special fund-raiser to obtain the funds to cover the travel expenses for our three guests from Copey to travel the USA.
One hundred percent of the donations received goes directly to the Learning Center or to support projects. We are extremely proud of being different. The money raised represents about 30% of the support we provide.
Our non-financial support includes 
wonderful special projects involving communications directly between American and Costa Rican students such as our popular Pen Pal Programs. We also help to arrange for college students to go to Copey to provide needed volunteer service to the Learning Center.
The Menu button above “Frequently Asked Questions” provides many answers about our short history and goals. I invite all new “Friends” to visit the section and become an informed and involved “Friend”. If there is no answer provided to a question, please contact me directly atbroady@aol.com.