In Costa Rica, the crisis generated by COVID‑19 escalated quickly with the airport closure on March 18, 2020 which abruptly put a stop to tourism in the country. Many organizations have mobilized to meet basic needs, including providing food and other essential household items, as many families lost their source of income with the closure of tourism-related businesses. Many nonprofits also rely on tourism-related income to perform their critical services. Emergency fundraising efforts supporting both communities and for nonprofits can be found below.

The CRUSA Foundation’s Resilient Costa Rica program is a critical effort that increases access to relief funding via an ongoing collaboration with Amigos of Costa Rica. Established in June 2020, this initiative has mobilized financial resources from donors in the U.S. and around the world to address the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to CRUSA and Amigos of Costa Rica’s support, over $1.2 million in funding has already been contributed to communities impacted by COVID‑19.

While this crisis started back in March 2020, it is far from over. Recovery has been especially slow for the tourism industry, which as of late 2020 was still at 50% of its economic activity in the preceding year.
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The CRUSA Foundation’s Resilient Costa Rica program continues to support organizations that are still significantly impacted by COVID-19.  For more information on this program, please contact CRUSA.