THE LATEST:
As well as the regular/on-going need of basic food staples, clothes, shoes & medicine, Gail Nystrom with the CRHF is seeking
to teach youth just "hangin'" on the streets in La Carpio to play - ideally together!!! 

Perhaps you have some time & speak good Spanish to help teach them?!?!?!  Contact Gail at GNystrom@racsa.co.cr / 8-390-4192





BASICS:  Rice, Beans, Powdered Milk, Powdered Drink Mix, Salt, Lizano, Cooking Oil, Boxed Milk, Boxed Juice, Corn Flour, Sugar, Canned Tuna [they seem to like the Tico type with vegetables], Baby Formula, etc. 

Gail Nystrom's Costa Rica Humanitarian Foundations (http://CRHF.org) does a Food Basket/"Garage Sale" & feeds around 250 people IDEALLY every 2 weeks - WHEN she has the money!!!  Unfortunately she hasn't had the funds to hold one in awhile but she's hoping to this Sunday - that is IF YOU can help!!!

HOW YOU CAN HELP??  Either donate ANY/all of the following items &/or donate 13,000-colones per bag (or ANYTHING).  She can always use clothing & shoe donations as they also do a little Garage Sale!!  Recently people have been expressing an interest in having books in Spanish!!
 
The items are brand specific for consistency:
- 100 und. Aceite Clover litro
- 100 und. Arroz Tio Pelon azul
- 100 und. Atun pescador con vegetales grande
-  50 und. Bebida royal melocoton
-  50 und. Bebida Royal Ponche de Frutas
-  50 und. Cereal K.Corn Flakes
-  50 und. Cereal K. Zucaritas
- 100 und. Spaguetti Roma
- 100 und. Frijol Tio Pelon
- 100 und. Leche Pinito 400 gr
- 100 und. Sal solar
- 200 und. Salsa Naturas c/carne 106gr
- 100 und. Sopa Maggi casera pollo

Perhaps you work for a company or belong to an organization that is willing to commit to help her make these goals - even if it means just taking one month or a few baskets???  Contact Gail at 8-390-4192 / GNystrom@racsa.co.cr



Sizes - small and medium and ESPECIALLY children sizes.  Many people in CR are small framed.
Baby clothes
Bathing suits - Children’s
Diapers - Cloth  -  Diaper Pins
Jackets - light jackets
Jeans  -  small and medium sizes and children's sizes
Pants  -  children’s
Shirts  -  children’s
Shirts – T-shirts - Printed shirts and caps with teams, states, cities, tourist that can be sold by the indigenous guides
Shoes - For their ongoing Walk a Mile in Their Shoes program collecting a miles worth of shoes for children, women and men [that is about 5,000 pairs! Especially needed are black shoes - tennis even better or some sort of really comfortable shoe for kids for school -  all sizes, types, for all genders. FYI Tienda Porque Kids in Centro Escazu has a Clearance area in the back where they have shoes starting as low as $4 on up (we had one member donate 25 pairs from here!) including many black pairs! They are at Del Parque de Escazu 75 meters al Oeste/West. 2-288-6313.
Shorts
Skirts  - Gathered skirts for girls  (they like skirts - NO hootchie mama clothes please)
Socks (for kids) - good quality new socks
Sweat shirts from the thrift store on 1/2 price day,  
Sweaters
T-shirts (small and medium sizes and children's sizes) -  good practical
Underwear  -  Children's underwear
UNIFORMS  -  Shoes (most are black), socks (most are navy blue), pants (most are navy blue – a special material), skirt (most are blue), shirt (white).  T-shirt – white.  (can you help by making the uniforms?)


MEDICAL SUPPLIES
ALL sorts of medication you’re no longer needing/using can be helpful to others (I am not sure if this is kosher or not but . . .  Note, despite what the box says, medications last LONG after their expiration date does) 
    * Pain relief medicine such as Aspirin, Tylenol, Excedrin, Naiads (Motrin, Aleve)
    * Cold & flu type products
    * Bug repellant (especially for mosquitos, cockroaches, and ants)
    * Condoms
    * Bandages and band-aids (all sizes), 4x4" and 2x2" gauze, tape, butterfly dressings, etc.
    * Antibiotic Soaps
    * Anti-fungal creams and powders, also anti-microbial solutions
    * Anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds
    * Anti-retrovirals, particularly AZT, 3TC and protease inhibitors, also AIDS tests
    * Anti-nausea/anti-vomiting medications
    * Birth Control, HIV/STD Brochures/Information in Spanish
    * Birth Control
    * LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01Multi-vitamins - infant, child and adult, especially pre-natal
    * Other vitamins and minerals, particularly B6, C and E, Zinc
    * IV antibiotics and oral antibiotics
    * Sunscreen (the higher the better since we’re near the equater)
    * Lip Balm (with high spf)
    * IV supplies- needles, bags of fluid, tubing, connectors
    * Sutures and suture equipment
    * Syringes and needles - all types
    * Gloves – all types
    * Crutches
    * Eye solutions and cleanser
    * Asthma medications, nebulizers, and inhalers
    * Diabetic test strips and urine dip sticks
    * Blood drawing supplies, tubes, needles
    * Ace bandages, casting materials, and splints
    * Dental supplies, including toothbrushes and toothpaste
    * Pregnancy tests and gestation wheels, and measuring tapes for midwives (plastic preferred)
    * Cord clamps and cord tying tape, bulb syringes for infant suction, any size 
    * Any other prescription or Over The Counter medications

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
    * Stethoscopes - infant, child, adult
    * Blood pressure cuffs - all sizes
    * Digital thermometers (centigrade) for infant and adult
    * Basal thermometers (for birth control)
    * Ophthalmoscopes, otoscopes, hearing testing tools, eye charts
    * Stainless steel instruments, especially scalpels and blades, scissors and hemostats
    * Fetal Doppler, any type, and Doppler gel
    * LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01Baby scales (fish and tabletop), adult scales
    * O2 equipment - regulators, tubing, masks, ambu-bags
    * Ultrasound machines - portable and with battery




II hear it runs AT LEAST $100 per child each year since they must pay for their own uniforms and ALL their Supplies!  ANY amount of supplies you can bring (either from your home or buy here) would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

ART SUPPLIES* (watercolors, fine paint brushes, notebooks for drawing [no lines]), craft paper, finger paints, powder craft paint, face paint, art paper)
Backpacks (different colors please so the kids don't all have the same ones.  If you can waterproof them before you send them down - yeahhh!) or small and medium duffle tote bags / book bags
Binders – 3-ringed
Blow up Beach Ball Globes of the world (they have never seen the world round, only flat)
Boards - chalk
Boards - cork
Boards - white
Books - Used/new books in both English and Spanish, especially children’s books
Calculators
Chalk
Colored paper
Colored pencils
Coloring books and crayons
Computers (working) – especially Laptops (this site has NEW STURDY laptops for kids in developing countries for just $100/EACH with WiFi, camera++ - http://laptop.org/en /regular computers & monitors (working with at least basic programs loaded on) /  Printer / Scanner (PLEASE try to provide any ink cartridges, cables, etc. as they're not cheap here!!)
Craft paper
Craft type items
Crayons
Dictionaries - simple Spanish-English dictionaries/learning supplies
Eraser boards (white)
Face paint
Finger paints
Flash cards (numbers, letters, learn English)
Games (Educational) – memory/matching games/cards/coordination
Geometry set
Glue
Hand sanitizer
Markers
Notebooks - 3-ring binder
Notebooks - lined paper
Page Dividers for 3-ring binder
Paintbrushes
Paper - plain white, lined and construction
Pencils (either pre-sharpened or if you can send some little sharpeners or big ones - yeahhh), pencil sharpeners, erasers, colored pencils
Pens
Playdough  (or what’s needed to make it – flour, salt, food coloring)
Poster boards
Rulers (metric)
Science kits (MUST be in Spanish)
Scissors - children's & adult
Spanish/English learning materials
Tape
Tissue paper
UNIFORMS (white shirts, navy blue pants and skirts, white socks, black comfortable shoes)
Watercolors

ANYTHING - EVERYTHING educational!!!



Things like EDUCATIONAL TOYS, ART SUPPLIES, Soccer Balls (& soccer socks & soccer shoes [used as well]), Books in Spanish, Puzzles & things to help with logic & coordination, Lego's, little Cars, Games like Chess, Uno, Scrabble, Parcheesy, Checkers [NOT Chinese checkers], Colored Chalks, Number & Alphabet matching cards & games, puppets, frisbees, jump ropes, Jacks, hair barrettes/rubber bands/head bands+, Stuffed Animals, fantasy jewelry, dolls.

Please, NOTHING with batteries.


One non-Christmas item that is MEGA needed by MOST kids are SOCKS (even used ones) as MANY of these kids don't even have socks & it can get pretty chilly this time of year.  Clothes are always needed as well & in January - OFFICIAL UNIFORMS are REALLY REALLY NEEDED!!!)



We will be adding LOTS of ideas/needs in the future so keep checking back!!