How I Fell in Love with La Carpio, Costa Rica and the Power of Travel4Souls

I worked with Kimberly Ferencz, who constructed this conspicuously adorable iPad cover for the trip.

** Update: As of 6:00 on June 24th, the travel fundraising goal of $1750 has been achieved (and even topped; impressive) by the League Lab Crew! Holla at your leagues. More info to follow. Still seeking other donations listed below and will be collecting and purchasing small toys to give to the children as well. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post! THANK YOU RADICAL PEOPLE! ***

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Hola!

To all who have made donations, provided words of encouragement, or who have been a positive force in my life at one time or another, I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU. I have less than 2 days to reach my goal of $1750, which leaves only $173! And now for the please part…

If you have not donated yet, please consider doing so today! Your gift is tax-deductible, and no gift is too small. $1 puts one pair of shoes on a child from La Carpio, a sewage ridden slum on the outskirts of San José. Without proper shoes, children can easily catch debilitating diseases. No shoes means no school. No school means no education. Unfortunately, for the children of La Carpio, these factors inevitably lead to dead ends. If he/she lives through adulthood, there is a high chance of becoming a drug dealer, prostitute, and/or victim of violence.

This is TRULY a case of $1 making a difference. You may help me hit my goal of $1750 by viewing my profile where you will find more info about why I am making this journey. I will be updating this blog as regularly as wi-fi allows on the trip, and will be loading it with all sorts of wonderful stories and photos upon my return. All current donors and sponsors appear in the right column. PLEASE if you would like your name to link to a site (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, etc.), let me know! All businesses who make a donation of $30 or more may send along their logo and I will include a direct link to your site. Soles4Souls will be Tweeting my blog posts from their account. That’s a large reach. Be sure to subscribe → (sign-up is in right column) to this blog to follow the journey and see the difference YOU helped make.

Can’t make a monetary donation at this time? Please spread the word over the world-wide web’s fancy sharing services.

Want to help in other ways? Because of my recent medical misfortune of the diagnosis of an auto-immune disease, I will be traveling to Costa Rica with a ton of meds/vitamins. To keep things light, I am looking for donations of small trial size samples (foil packets, wipes, small bottles or tubes) of hair, face, body, and other health products. Sephora, Duque Salon of Ballard, and many friends have kindly donated. These samples are easy to transport and throw away but impossible to buy from the shelves. If you have any hanging around, I would appreciate ANY item or brand that you could send my way. Please email me jamielynndespres[at]gmail[dot]com to arrange a drop off/pick up or please mail them directly to my apartment by July 21st. Just shoot me a message if you need my mailing address.

I happily plan on staying involved with Soles4Souls after the trip. In the Ballard hood of Seattle, an event to feature a shoe drive is already on the table.

Thanks so much for your incredible show of support. I am scared, nervous, but very excited. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog for updates! I promise these photos and smiles will warm your heart, as your kindness and generosity have warmed mine.

Once the goal of $1750 is reached, if interested in making a donation to help defray my personal costs for the trip, please either use PayPal (below) or send a check via old-skool mail. This would be of great help, as all domestic travel, immunizations, domestic lodging, and the bevy of special travel items that a Fibro/Lyme patient must have on hand, have started draining the piggy quickly. I am registered as a Sole Proprietor in the state of WA and will gladly send you any documentation you require. You will certainly still be included on my blog, and the inclusion of links and logos is highly encouraged.

To make a donation via PayPal to help defray my personal costs, please click this button:

Muchas gracias!
Jamie Lynn Despres