Santa in the Streets coming to town

A unique initiative for helping others this Christmas season is arriving in Costa Rican streets.

They call themselves Santa in the Streets, and they are an organization who collect clothing, toys, blankets, shoes and food to distribute to homeless people in San José, Heredia and Alajuela.

Santa in the Streets began five years ago in Caracas, Venezuela. Since then, Venezuelans traveling across the globe have taken the initiative to places like South Africa and Costa Rica.

Ignacio Castro brought the movement to Costa Rica four years ago. Last year the group was able to provide food and clothes to 1,000 homeless people.

This year the group is meeting Saturday and Sunday in the Costa Rican Agricultural Engineers’ Association in the Los Colegios residence in the northeast San José suburb of Moravia. Throughout the weekend, volunteers will wrap presents, organize the distribution of gifts and cook food to the homeless.

Santa en las Calles will take donations and will welcome more volunteer work on Saturday and Sunday. For more information visit “Santa en las Calles / San José – Costa Rica” on Facebook or contact Carlos Piedra at 8922-5429 or Ignacio Castro 8335-8161.