CAA has renewed its support for the Hogarcito, San Ramón’s orphanage that currently houses 20 children. It is located in Santiago, just west of San Ramón. Donations from CAA members provide a birthday party for each child. The party consists of cake (donated by La Duquesa), ice cream, candy, and punch for the kids; and a present for the birthday child. We also donate party plates, cups, balloons, streamers, and candles.

CAA was selected as one of seven local organizations to receive donations in 2022 from the Women's Club of Costa Rica (WCCR), a group that has served the community with distinction for 80 years. CAA asked to be selected for a $2,000 donation to support our scholarship program and instead received a $10,000 donation.
This was a direct result of Judy Kerr talking to Laraine Altun, who is on the board of WCCR. The Club was impressed by four things about our program:
1. CAA gives students vouchers instead of cash for purchasing uniforms and supplies.
2. We incorporate university interns that help run the program.
3. A social worker provides a support structure for students’ families.
4. CAA has a significant cash reserve to ensure we will be able to get the 28 student participants through their high school careers.
At the December Board of Directors meeting, the CAA Board formally accepted the offered donation. We will do everything we can to continue to live up to their legacy of service in our adopted community.

THANK YOU to all who have already donated to our initiative to give back to the San Ramon community by helping our friends and neighbors who have been negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic to feed their families.
Thanks to your outstanding generosity, we have already helped twelve families identified by Arbol de Esperanza as well as eight of our scholarship recipient families. Additionally, twenty of the families that receive scholarships from our Education Committee have been assisted through the Committee's existing reserves. A total of forty families in all thanks to your generosity!
Each family received a voucher for 55,000 colones which they will be able to use to buy food and other necessities at Supermercado Carranza in San Ramon. Thanks again to Supermercado Carranza, for partnering with us!
It is not too late to donate! There are other families who need our help, and likely will for the next several months. We are able to accept your donations by any of the following methods:

1. For those who are comfortable with leaving your home, you can make a deposit directly into CAA's account at Coopenae. You can use the following information with the staff at Coopenae:
Institution: COOPENAE RL
Name: Asociacion Community Action Alliance/Asociacion Alianza De Accion Comunitaria
Personae Juridica/Cedula# 3-002-661454
IBAN Acct # CR28081400011013646765
This is the only CAA account ending in "5;" Christian or Luis Diego can help you get it to the right account, if handling in person. Please feel free to contact Susan Knab at nurese@aol.com or our treasurer, Terry Handler, (email listed in #3 below) if you have any questions or need assistance with this process.

2. For those who have a Costa Rica bank account, whether at Coopenae or another bank, you can make a transfer into our account at Coopenae using the same information as above.

3. For those who do not have a Costa Rica bank account, you can transfer funds from your U.S. bank account to Terry using Zelle. You just need Terry's email which is Terry@thandler.com. Please include your contact information in the memo area of the payment screen. Terry will let you know that he received it and will deposit into the fund in your name.


4.  For those that would like to donate via Paypal -  use the above email address for Terry and please identify yourself and give your contact information in the note field.
 
5. If none of these three methods work for you, Susan or Terry will accept your pledge. Just let us know.

Our plan is to use a voucher system, very similar to what we use for our scholarship program, that will permit the recipients to purchase groceries at Carranza Supermercado.  As for who will receive the vouchers, additional assistance will first be given to families identified through Arbol de Esperanza and all our scholarship student families. However, there are more than 80,000 people in the San Ramon canton, and we are likely to be able to help many more if we widen our scope. If we receive an overwhelming response and we find that your generosity exceeds the need of the families identified through Arbol de Esperanza and the scholarship families, we will work with an additional organization that serves the San Ramon canton.

This is totally a free-will contribution for those who are looking for a way to help and have the ability to do so. Also, please be assured that any funds donated for this purpose will be used only for this purpose and will not be diverted to any other CAA programs. What comes in will go back out, maybe not all at once since it may be several months before these families are able to reach any level of sustainability; but all funds collected will be distributed for their benefit.

Please contact Susan Knab or Terry Handler if you have any questions.
Thank you!

​Our next session of the CAA Spanish Conversation Classes will begin on Tuesday, March 24th and will continue through Tuesday, May 19th (no class April 7th), with each session being approximately 1.5 hours. The cost is 15,000 colones for the 8-week session.  Classes are held at the San Ramon library.

Three levels will again be offered:  And please don’t worry that these levels are set in stone.   If, during the first day of class, you or the instructor feel you are misplaced, then we will change you as long as we don’t exceed 8 students in one class.

Level I - These students are total “newbies” to the Spanish language.   Basically you will learn present tenses, pronouns, ”be” verbs, and basic vocabulary for grocery shopping, vet care,  etc.  IF you have taken this level before but feel you might want/need to repeat it, don’t worry, that is fine.

Level II - These students need to know some present tense verbs and some basic vocabulary, but they will not have yet ventured into the deeper waters of past or future.

Level III - Students in this higher level group need to have had formal lessons for at least a  year and be conversant in present, past, and future tenses.

REGISTRATION:  Is open until Thursday, March 19th; you may register for classes by either:
* clicking this link--you will be taken to the registration page (http://www.actionalliancecr.com/spanish-conversation-registration.html)
* email Susan at nurese@aol.com and letting her know which level you would like.

Then on Thursday, March 19th,  Susan Knab will be collecting tuition at Cafe Delicias between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. at the Thursday morning coffee get-together.   If, for some reason, you can’t come on this day, please try to have a friend come pay for you or make alternate arrangements with Susan as we need a firm idea of paid students. Please try to have exact change!

Please email Susan Knab,  nurese@aol.com if you have any questions.
 
Proceeds from the Spanish Conversation Classes benefit the San Ramon Public Library and the CAA Education Scholarship Program.

  Introducing the CAA 2020 Class of Educational Scholarship Students
On January 25, 2020, the Community Action Alliance’s Education Committee presented scholarship vouchers for the 2020 school year to twenty-six students.  One additional student is receiving a special scholarship for English Second Language studies; and an additional high school student has just been approved for participation. CAA will support up to 30 high school students in 2020.
Additionally, this scholarship class includes one degreed University student of Social Work who is completing her licensing requirements while serving her sixth year as our Scholarship Program Administrative Intern.  And, we plan to offer another university social worker student a scholarship while being trained to assume the role of CAA’s University Scholarship Program Administrative Intern in 2021. 
And, we celebrated the December 2019 high school graduation of four of our students.  All four are continuing their education through university or technical school courses in 2020, and we wish them the best in those advanced studies.

Not all of our students hit these high marks, and two of our current students must pass additional tests if they are to move to the next grade and stay in CAA’s scholarship program. We hope they can improve their grades and work towards graduation.
 
CAA’s Education Committee expects to provide about $14,000 in direct educational support for 32 students in 2020. This level of educational support would not be possible without the generosity and hard work of CAA volunteers and donations from our faithful network of “friends and family” supporters.
Thank you for supporting the educational dreams of these students - an investment in education for these students is an investment for life. 
 
CAA Education Committee Members: Scott & Linda McAnally, Andrea Carter, Dustin Dresser, Linda Dwyer, Johanna Fernandez, Fernanda Rojas, Susan Knab, Ricardo Elizondo Garcia, Lynette Lewis, Laura Handler, Dave Scott.
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