Fund Ecuador, Manabi Water Access

My name is Jimmy Roca, living in Los Angeles, CA.  My family is originally from Manabi, Ecuador, with many of my relatives still living in that region of Ecuardor.  I have worked for many years in the Los Angeles area as a business/restaurant owner and as an events promoter, working within the Latino community in Los Angeles to host many large scale events.  I now turn to you for your help to use those resources for a personal cause that will allow us to help improve the lives of a community struggling to recover from a major natural disaster.

On April 16th, the country of Ecuador was left paralyzed by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that destroyed the fabric of their daily lives, creating disorder in ways that we can never fully grasp nor understand.

We have all come together to help our families and our friends so that we can have an immediate impact on the humanitarian relief efforts to aid the people of Ecuador.  One of the key ways that we can help our country move forward is providing access to clean drinking water, which is severely lacking at this moment.

OUR GOAL: We have begun to raise funds to purchase a water filtration system that will provide clean dirnking water to over 40,000 people in Ecuador. This system can operate non-stop for several years, providing a lifeline to the basic fundamental elements that are needed for our bodies - clean water. Along with the purchase of new water bottles, this will serve as relief to members of our extended families in a manner that will truly make a difference. Our goal is to raise $30,000 and we have made great strides in reaching that goal in the short amount of time that we have been collecting donations. With your help, we will be able to quickly reach our goal.

This goal will be achieved in by buying 2 water purification systems, with the immediate goal of this campaign would be to raise enough funds to buy the first system to service 20,000 people.  Based on the effectiveness in serving those 20,000, we will proceed with the efforts to buy the 2nd system that will allow us to service 40,000 people.  This process will allow us to have a greater impact on those who the systems service that will truly make a difference.

LOCATION: Manabi, Ecuador - Manabi is a region in Ecuador that has many cities and towns within it.

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS: All funds raised through this campaign will be used for 2 main purposes: 1) purchase the water filtrating sytem; 2) buy water bottles for the families within the region of Manabi, Ecuador.

In regards to the water filtration system, we will purchase the machine directly from a selected vendor in Ecuador, who will work with a network of engineers in Manabi to install the system.  The system will be installed in Calzeta, a town within Manabi that is located to a principal water source and where we have relationships with engineers who can install and maintain the system.

OPERATING PROCEDURES: Through a group of family members and local volunteers, the site will be managed to distribute the clean water.  The system can purify 1,500 gallons a day.  Based a registration system that will be used to track the water distribution, our goal would be to provide 300 families per day (5 gallons per family) with the goal being to give access to each family to the water system once every 15 days.