At the Family Support Center of Ojochal our volunteers make all the difference to the families we help. They deliver food and vouchers, they check in on progress, they operate La Manita, our thrift shop, and they support our fundraising events.

Recognizing the contributions of these generous members of our community is one way to say Thank You!

Here is a profile of Cindy Smith!

A full-time resident of Ojochal, Cindy and her husband Scott and their dog Mo retired in 2014 from the United States, where they had followed Scott’s work to many different states, most recently Arizona. These various locations confirmed one thing – retirement needed to be near the water.

Scott travelled extensively in his work, so Cindy is very happy they can now enjoy exploring places together. They recently returned to Ojochal from safari in Tanzania – a dream, given her love of animals - and a sojourn in London.

Cindy is inherently a people person – she enjoys meeting and connecting with all sorts of people.

This trait suited her well as Training Director for a US bank, and later in the interior design field. Nurturing her creative side Cindy started her own greeting card company and began volunteering at “Free Arts of AZ” which used art therapy and creative expression to bring healing to abused and homeless children.

Her amazing people skills and joy in getting to know local community, Ticos and Gringos alike is a true asset.

Cindy is what we refer to as our Volunteer in Chief – especially as far as La Manita is concerned. Responsible for recruiting, orienting and scheduling volunteers to cover operating hours each week, Cindy believes it is important to really know our volunteers personally and find ways to maximise their gifts and talents. “Everyone has a unique quality that they can use in a special way! I enjoy finding it and putting it to use! It’s fun for me to watch the team effort where we can all enjoy contributing in our unique ways... from organizational skills to computer skills, store display ideas and creative artistic contributions, knowing how to repurpose items, having an ‘eye’ for details in the items donated, to being especially friendly and outgoing with the customers... the list could go on... we have a multi-talented group working at La Manita!”, she says.

Cindy is also a Director on the FSCO Board, where she is the voice of the volunteers. After she and other volunteers noted that donations often included high quality clothing and household items, they recognized that there were great opportunities to generate more money, and together they crafted the idea of Boutique Tienda. With the wholehearted approval of the Board, Cindy and the volunteers piloted this idea at the last two Garage Sales where the concept proved a great success, and are now creating a separate permanent space at the La Manita location. 

Over the past few months, much effort has been made to renew the La Manita space and create a new space for La Boutique Tienda that will properly showcase the higher end items that are donated, and market them to the bargain shopper in all of us – the Marshall’s of Ojochal so to speak!

La Boutique Tienda opens on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. Watch for more information on hours of operation and items for sale!