Cuba Educational Travel and Friends of Caritas Cuba Create Partnership to Provide Humanitarian Assistance to Cuba’s Most Vulnerable; $100,000 Matching Fund Established for Cuba
HAVANA, CUBA - Cuba Educational Travel (CET), the U.S. leader in connecting people to Cuba through travel, and Caritas Cuba, the island’s largest social services agency, today announced a partnership to increase direct support to Cuba’s most vulnerable citizens, including senior citizens and children with disabilities. Because of COVID-19, thousands of people in Cuba have lost their livelihoods and sources of income. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans working in the tourism sector have been especially impacted. Already facing shortages of food and other essentials, the COVID 19 crisis is putting many more Cubans at risk, and the demand for social services and humanitarian assistance is growing.
To help support Cuba’s most vulnerable citizens, CET and Caritas Cuba have launched a joint fundraising and volunteer campaign to encourage past (and future visitors) to Cuba to donate to support this humanitarian assistance. “As a travel and cultural exchange organization with a purpose, we are delighted to share this information with our customers to let them know how to help Cuba in this time of crisis. We have taken tens of thousands of U.S. travelers to Cuba over the years, to experience the wonderful culture, history and people that make it such a special place. Today, we call upon this community to give back in this time of economic crisis,” explained Collin Laverty, founder and President of CET.
Thanks to an anonymous donor, a matching fund has been established to help fund social services in Cuba and encourage donations to this cause. All donations will be matched up to a total of $100,000. All funds raised will be sent to Cuba to pay for direct services. In addition, all overhead costs are being absorbed by Friends of Caritas Cuba (the U.S. charity for Caritas Cuba), so that all funds will go towards direct services. Donations can be made at www.friendscaritascuba.org.
Once travel to Cuba resumes, CET will be encouraging travelers to pack small “donation kits” with essentials such as toothpaste, soap, hand sanitizer, and children’s Tylenol. These donations will be collected by Caritas Cuba and distributed throughout the island to families in need.
“We are thrilled to partner with CET,” said Mauricio Vivero, CEO of Friends of Caritas Cuba. “For more than 20 years, Caritas Cuba has been providing food, medicine, and social services to Cuban citizens. In 2019, we served over 48,000 people. This exciting initiative will help us reach new partners and donors, and increase our impact to help Cuba’s most vulnerable people,” he added.
