Local publications and media play a key role in communities by helping us to see and care about things we may have missed or not paid much attention to. No mass media is going to take the time to report on a local incident, social event, business opening or fundraiser and, if they do arrive for a story, they won’t have the background or time to understand the people involved and how it truly impacts the community.

Local chat groups take the conversation even further as people ask, answer and share information with additional suggestions, updates, and tangents to the conversations create a dynamic and diverse real-time knowledge base which no archive or service could match in spirit or energy.

My hope for our community is to see that same level of engagement manifest in person. If just one in ten of us volunteered once a week and businesses contributed 1% of their revenues to community development and security, we would be the most exciting, safe, and progressive region in Central America. It’s an achievable goal worth considering.

Just think of the possibilities. Public spaces to meet, play and make friends, recreational facilities and cultural events for young and old (classes! theatre! a skatepark!), a renowned hotel-school training locals, lifeguards at the beaches seven days a week, SafeBeach patrols in all the hotspots, and so much more.

This vision is closer than you may think. Many of these projects are in consideration and hotels like Kura Design Villas, Uvita Bali Bosque, Oxygen Jungle Villas, Rancho Pacifico, and Bodhi Surf & Yoga have already signed up for the SOMOS 1% program. The SOMOS Foundation, an umbrella for over 30 local non-profit programs and organizations, will raise over $80,000 by year end.

All that’s missing is you. Join us!

CONTACT: Perry Gladstone is a professional advisor and co-founder of the SOMOS foundation. www.somos.cr  - www.perrygladstone.com