Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
AUTHOR: FSCO
The Family Support Center of Ojochal is a not-for-profit corporation in Costa Rica. FSCO provides food and other services to families at risk for hunger, economic marginalization, and poor education. We are currently providing food to 36 families (that’s 129 people).

The FSCO’s main priority has always been to provide food to those in need, but in the last few years, we have also expanded our services. By adding these additional services, our goal is to work to break the cycle of poverty that brings people to need our service in the first place.
- Support education and literacy by tutoring students with difficulties so they will stay in school and identifying and helping talented students excel and reach their fullest potential.
- Offer seed funding to help our families launch small businesses to be financially independent.
- Organize childcare and development through educational camps, extracurricular classes, and adult development opportunities for advancing employment and other life skills.
- Facilitate community fundraising for important causes like the local school
- Seek solutions for community problems like access to local transportation to critical health appointments and other essential appointments, as many families in Ojochal lack transportation.
Our fundraising is done through community outreach, participating in local events, as well as through our two Ojochal thrift stores: La Manita and La Boutique. At our La Manita store, all items are 500 colones, and in La Boutique, items are individually priced starting at 1.000 colones.
La Manita and La Boutique are open from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm Tuesday and 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm Thursday.


FSCO/La Manita is now accepting donations of:
Clothing and shoes (adults, children, and babies)
Baby Care Items (car seats, strollers, cribs, etc.)
Household items (lamps, fans, coasters, clocks, etc.) and furniture
Beds, bedding, linens, and towels
Kitchenware and small appliances
Tools and building supplies
All donations must be clean, in working order, and delivered to La Manita during business hours. Large items such as furniture, appliances, televisions, and building supplies can be collected – via email or Facebook Message FSCO, and pickup can be arranged.
As always, cash donations are needed to fund our support to families. Check out details on how you can help.
The Family Support Center of Ojochal has just entered our 9th year of providing service to the community and hopes that with your help, we can continue to help many more families. We are always seeking new sources of funding to support our programs, expand services, and look for additional ways that we can help the community. If you have any ideas, please reach out to us. And as always, thank you all for your help.
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Costa Rica Free Digital Magazine #90
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