Improve a Life, Help a Community for Less than $200

Julia Guth|November 23, 2023

A Note From Amanda: Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy the holiday with friends and loved ones. Below is a very special message from our good friend and former publisher Julia Guth. We owe her a lot… She gave our team the tools and support we needed to get Manward off the ground. We want to return the favor by giving her Roberto Clemente Health Clinic all the critical support it deserves. Read on below…

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In 2004, I founded a unique organization located in the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

This charitable organization – The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic – is a model, gold star nonprofit that supports hundreds of families living in impoverished areas of southwestern Nicaragua.

Our professional and highly resourceful teams have a positive impact on countless Nicaraguans in need – and they do it with a super-low annual budget.

In fact…

I challenge anyone working in health centers around the world to make the kind of impact our team does working with so little…

The 28 full- and part-time members of our team operate a medical facility 24/7 that also provides clean water filtration and distribution, medicine storage, community organic gardens, education, and outreach clinics.

Plus, the Clinic operates one of the only SUV ambulances in the region, which helps our team navigate the steep dirt roads throughout the area.

And the Clinic does it with a total budget of less than $680,000 a year.

Our dedicated team sees an average of 20,000 patients a year. The team provides emergency response and pediatric care, and treats respiratory illnesses, heart issues and much more. We supply an average of 14,340 gallons of water a year to schools, and we support over 5,000 people a year with health, education and nutrition.

I hope you agree… It is an amazing accomplishment to be able to help so many with so little. 

Given the mounting need in this part of Central America and the experience of our reliable team, there is so much more the team could do if it had more funds.

Our Clinic buildings are in very poor shape, having taken the brunt of several major hurricanes and tropical depressions. The roof and walls of this “safe harbor” for many in the region have been devastated by the wind and rain.

Right now, we are urgently seeking funds to help repair, fortify and modernize our Clinic facility.

We need $20,000 to fund the new plan’s Stage One… the repair stage.

And we’ll need another $100,000 in capital to fund Stage Two: modernizing our facilities with new beds, X-ray and ultrasound equipment, and storage facilities for medicines.

And we always need more funds to continue supporting our high-quality, professional team and healthy living programs.

Most families who live in this region reside in far-from-ideal conditions. They live on dirt roads, which create a lot of dust and mud, and they share two-room tin shacks – often without clean water. Many have chronic health problems as well, like diabetes, heart conditions, obesity and asthma.

The Clinic has come a long way over the past two decades, helping the families in the greatest need with urgent and preventive care. Beyond providing urgent care to the community, we also have programs to promote healthy eating. As part of these programs, families participate in community gardens and receive education on nutrition. We distribute clean water and take our team on outreach programs to hard-to-access areas to distribute medicine and conduct health exams. We also provide children with uniforms, backpacks and nutritional packs, which help them stay in school.

Many kids in the surrounding 15 Nicaraguan townships don’t go to school past the sixth grade, and some don’t go at all. Young people in Nicaragua are lucky if they can get on a career path that takes them beyond doing manual labor for very little income.

Yet recently, thanks to generous donors, not only have we been able to motivate and support 61 kids to stay in school, but we have 48 in university, with four recent graduates!

There is much need around the world begging for our attention and financial support. I am pleading with you today to not forget what is happening in the Americas… in our own backyards.

The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic is a proven nonprofit that so many rely on to better their lives and strengthen their own local communities.

Our team knows that every cent employed to operate the Clinic comes from our generous donors. Our team members feel a deep sense of responsibility to be there for their neighbors, as they have been through many crises… including the pandemic.

I am so proud of these professional Nicaraguans and the community leaders who work closely with the Clinic.

They really deserve more.

The time has come for us to help them fix and update the Clinic facility – a place of refuge, recovery, aid and pride.

But lots of work needs to be done, and that work costs a lot of money – especially now that inflation has ravaged the Nicaraguan economy.

By donating today to our Roberto Clemente Health Clinic, you will help fund the repairs and renovations of the Clinic, as well as the Clinic’s programs and personnel.

Again, we’re looking to raise at least $20,000 to help in Stage One of our building funding, and The Oxford Club has graciously offered to match donations up to this amount, with a matching deadline of December 31.

And as I’ve mentioned, our annual budget is amazingly small for what this team accomplishes.

But now it’s no longer enough.

I hope you’ll consider joining me in supporting the communities of this region of Nicaragua. They so badly want to have a healthier life. And many do, thanks to help from The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic.

A tremendous amount of change has happened since we opened our doors in 2004.

• Schools are getting clean water. 
• Kids are going to schools when they previously could not (because they didn’t have uniforms, backpacks or shoes).
• Medicines are getting to families who live in remote areas and normally can’t access a clinic.
• Emergency services are available 24/7 in an area with no nearby hospital.
• Families are learning how to grow their own food.
• Senior citizens are learning how to manage their diabetes and heart conditions.

There is much more we could be doing, with your support. All our programs could be expanded to cover more families, and our building and equipment could be upgraded, allowing us to provide better pediatric and diagnostic care.

I’m asking you… please, in this giving season, with all the trouble in the world today…

Please keep this impoverished, fragile region in your heart and mind. Please consider supporting The Roberto Clemente Health Clinic.

DONATE HERE

We are a donor-supported 501(c)(3) incorporated in Maryland, so your donation is 100% tax-deductible. We’ve become an integral part of why the people in this part of Nicaragua continue to strive for a better life.

I couldn’t be prouder of our Clinic team. Our team members deserve a better facility and better equipment. So does our Nicaraguan community.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update on our Clinic. Your donations will be used efficiently and professionally, going where they are needed most. You can make a positive and life-changing impact in this region right now.