Monteverde Friends US

Your donation will have multiple impacts on mitigating the effects of COVID 19 and climate change in Monteverde.   It will:

     • Create work for Monteverde Friends School  (MFS) families that will make the difference in enabling their children to return to school in August.

     • Help the school  to make ends meet next year.

     • Plant trees in the Monteverde region, supporting the reforestation goals of the Monteverde Institute.  These trees will:

                          - grow habitat for the survival of Monteverde's flora and fauna,

                          - protect water resources and

                          - capture carbon to mitigate climate change.



Create work

COVID 19 has devastated Monteverde's tourist economy.   About 85% of the working population in the Monteverde region is now unemployed or underemployed according to preliminary data collected by the Liaison Commission in Monteverde that was formed to support the Emergency Commission in responding to the crisis.  

Help the school

Families of the Monteverde zone are dedicated to their children's education. Yet only a small fraction of the MFS families have been able  to make tuition payments  for April and May, the last two months of the school year.  Classes are online and all staff has taken a 50% pay cut to finish the year.  Families will need an extra boost to be able to pay tuition next year, and financial aid is limited.
 


Plant trees

The Monteverde Institute  needs people to plant trees. At least 8000 of the 15,000 trees that the Institute will be distributing this year were to be planted by volunteers who have had to cancel their trips to Monteverde. These trees must be planted during the rainy season between May and August of this year. 

 

Monteverde Institute staff will work with Monteverde Friends School families who especially need extra income to pay tuition to plant trees.  For every 30 trees planted by the families and the Institute staff, $10 will be paid to help offset tuition. 

The Monteverde Institute has worked with 150 local farmers planting a total of 250,000 trees to restore habitat on their land.  

Combat climate change

While the COVID crisis has slowed the emissions of greenhouse gases, the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to increase . 

You have probably heard of the trillion tree campaign to help stall climate change.  In order for those trees to get in the ground and survive, we need to support the experts who will do this responsibly, like the staff Monteverde Institute and the local communities they work with.

Protect water and wildlife

By planting these trees, you are also helping to take care of the health of the watersheds and the flora and fauna that live in the Bellbird Biological Corredor.


That is a big bang for your buck!

Your donation through Monteverde Friends U.S. will be tax deductible in the United States.

More information about Monteverde Friends U S Inc: Monteverde Friends U.S. exists: (1) to promote the educational, social, cultural, moral, and spiritual development of members of the Monteverde Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends and the inhabitants of the surrounding zone; (2) to promote peace, and social and economic justice in the Monteverde region, in Costa Rica, in the rest of Central America and elsewhere in the world; (3) to promote awareness and appreciation of the natural world, conservation practices, and the defense of natural resources and the environment.