Florida Foundation
Begins Work in Santa
Cruz
(Infocom) - The Florida
Foundation, created by
the board of directors
of Costa Rican beer,
soft drink and food
manufacturer Florida Ice
& Farm Co., will begin
implementing social
development projects in
the canton of Santa Cruz
- as part of a portfolio
of initiatives scheduled
over the next two years
and which are supported
by a global budget of
over $1 million.
“The board of directors
of Florida has decided
to create this
foundation as a tool to
allow us to carry out
the company’s social
outreach work in a more
orderly and systematic,
with the same strategic
vision through which we
carry out all of our
business activities,”
said Rodolfo Jimenez
Borbon, president of the
board directors of the
holding company.
“Through this
foundation, we seek to
promote, among other
things, the education of
youths and the formation
of new business people,
so that every day more
and more Costa Ricans
can participate,
actively and
productively, in the
development of their own
lives and their
families.”
Jimenez Borbon added
that Santa Cruz was
chosen for the
foundation’s initial
efforts because it’s a
canton with intermediate
development, “so that we
do there can be
reproduced in many other
cantons.”
The areas that will be
focused during this
initial stage of the
foundation’s work are
empowerment of
education, support for
small businesses
(including technology
and marketing), and
promotion of sport
activities.
Florida Ice & Farm,
along with other 80
companies, is part of
the Business Association
for Development (AED),
an entity that promotes
the implementation of
social responsibility
and outreach programs in
various communities. To
develop Florida’s
initiative in Santa
Cruz, the company will
work hand in hand with
the National University
(UNA), the Costa
Rican-North American
Cultural Center, the
Youth Action Foundation,
and the Omar Dengo
Foundation.
The Florida Foundation
will be led by former
Florida Ice & Farm
corporate relations
director, Carlos
Francisco Echeverria,
whose goal is to
generate and support
projects with high
strategic value for the
social and environmental
development of Costa
Rica and the Central
American region (the
company operates well
beyond Costa Rica’s
borders) through the
transfer of economic
resources, skills and
knowledge.
In the first stage of
this project, the
foundation will work on
preventing school
desertion, providing
equipment and
educational materials to
schools, and improving
the quality of teachers.
In the area of sports,
the Florida Foundation
will focus on
high-performance youth
soccer. And in terms of
economic development,
work will be done on
fomenting a business
mentality and
strengthening small and
medium companies —
particularly in the
tourism sector.
In the natural resources
arena, the foundation
seeks to help protect
water sources and aid in
environmental cleanup
and recycling.
Florida Ice & Farm was
established in 1908 in
La Florida de Siquirres,
in the Caribbean region,
as an agricultural
enterprise and supplier
of ice to the banana
ships that operated in
the port of Limón during
the hay days of the
banana trade and the
United Fruit Company. |
