Photo by Adam Dietrich

Friends of Nosara help funding Nosara Animal Care to continue with their "Adopt a Pet" campaign and spay and neuter clinics.

The non-profit group, Friends of Nosara, held their annual general meeting this Sunday January 6 at restaurant Marlin Bill's. The group has achieved some of their stated goals from 2012 and says that they will continue working towards them in the new year.

Friends of Nosara (FoN) has implemented a new system to permit recurring monthly donations, via their website and are soliciting through that avenue for more donations to maintain their level of service and program support.

The Del Mar Academy Scholarship Fund was, just this past year, incorporated as a Costa Rican non-profit. The monies raised over the past year have paid for tuition for six children from disadvantaged circumstances. The fund is looking into additional fundraising to support more students and are looking to focus on current contributors to spread the word amongst their own social groups, in order to expand their financial support base.

The David S. Kitson Memorial Library started up a reading club in three local schools in the Bocas Nosara area, a number they hope to increase in the course of this year.  They need sponsorship from individuals in the community to help transport students to the Library. They are also in the process of creating a “biblio-moto” to bring books and materials to Santa Marta's school, and are going to be extending their operating hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 8:00PM.

The Surfing Nosara Foundation, in addition to beautification and restoration of several area schools, is helping to sponsor a student in Nosara to go to the Technological Institute of Costa Rica in Cartago. They report that the boy still has struggles, and needs more money for tuition and supplies. The foundation will also be taking over the Summer School “Escuelita” in 2014 from it's current administrator, Saskia Ellemeet. They will also be focusing on other avenues for donations and fundraising, and discontinuing the annual art auction.

Animal care is a big priority for three funding recipients, and this past year has been no exception. Nosara Wildlife Rescue is soliciting for people to suggest places to apply silicone spray for “hot” components on electrical system to prevent monkey electrocutions; Nosara Animal Care recently started working with a group called “Brake for Animals” in Jaco, and spent a total of $3.800 on their bricks-and-mortar presence, although they say there is not enough money to keep it open or renovate the building.

The Nosara Recycling Association is working on the promotion of compost at resident's homes, and said that they want to work with property managers to make composting larger-scale. They are also trying to promote the use of transparent plastic bags for all recyclable materials, to leave the sorting to those working the actual recycling area. They expressed that they are going to the  Nicoya municipality to solicit the mayor for a new garbage truck for the collectors, since the current vehicle is outdated. The association needs both water and electricity sources for the soon-to-open recycling centre, and ICE expressed a willingness to pay 50% of electricity costs for it. The University of Florida is working with the NRA to transform the dump into and actual landfill.

Although the comparison between current and last year's disbursals may be distant, the figures represent little as to when the cash comes in; With the cash-on-hand left over on December 31st of a given year, the annual meeting in the first week of January pays it as 2013 disbursals.

“We collect and distribute money throughout the year,” said FoN secretary Alice Olson. “So whenever December comes around, most of our American patrons want to make their donations at that time, so the bulk comes in at that time and gets distributed after our annual meeting.”

Del Mar Academy Scholarship Fund
Funds Received (2012) - $30.515
            (2013) - $11.500

David S. Kitson Memorial Library
Funds Received (2012) - $27.650
            (2013) - $3.500

Surfing Nosara Foundation
Funds Received (2012) - $27.296
            (2013) - $4.850

SIBU Sanctuary, S.A.
Funds Received (2012) - $9.904
            (2013) - $1.600

Nosara Wildlife Refuge
Funds Received (2012) - $6.330
            (2013) - $800

Nosara Animal Welfare Association
Funds Received (2012) - $4.352
            (2013) - $1.850


Nosara Recycling Association
Funds Received (2012) - $5.500
            (2013) - $900

More Community News New Bridge To Chinampas Inaugurated With singing and dancing, chicharron and carne asada, on Saturday, January 12th the community of Chinampas celebrated the inauguration of a bridge that was three years in the making, according to Bonifacio Diaz, who lives in Chinampas and serves as syndic for the District of Samara. Samara Residents Denounce Polluting of Lagarto River Under the bridge between Samara center and Cangrejal, two drainage pipes pour out directly into the Río Lagarto riverbed, and members of the Samara community suspect that the water is contaminated.  Summer School in Nosara             Nosara summer school, better known as “Escuelita”, is starting this Monday January 7th and will last for 3 weeks. Kids and youth ages 5-14 can learn animation with film, gardening, singing, cooking, photo i illustration and handi crafts, all combined with games and sports. Nosara Elected New ASADA Board After several attempts to gather together a big enough group of the clients of the ASADA of central Nosara, the sufficient amount of people finally came to the meeting on Friday, December 7th in order to hold the election of the new administrative board.