The Rivers and Forests Alliance (RAFA) team is thrilled to announce our first charity auction fundraiser – RAFAuction – from March 21 to April 1, 2022.
RAFAuction specifically supports three conservation, sport, and peace projects created by RAFA’s namesake founder Rafael (Rafa) Gallo. During the 35 years he operated his award-winning Rios Tropicales adventure company in Costa Rica, Rafa Gallo combined conservation and ecotourism in an irrefutable partnership. Rafa believed the sport of whitewater rafting was a bridge builder for peace, responsible community development, and conservation. Hence, the first RAFA charity auction fundraiser supports these three core foundations of Rafa’s legacy.
Thanks so much for supporting these causes to continue Rafa Gallo’s legacy of conservation, sport, and peace. The projects are:
1. CONSERVATION: Funding Pacuare Watershed conservation projects under the Rivers and Forests Alliance (RAFA), including supporting the inaugural RAFA Pacuare Conservation Festival set for April 22-24, 2022. [40%]
2. SPORT: Funding Team RAFA, the competitive Costa Rica U-23 rafting team, to travel to Bosnia in May 2022 for the IRF World Rafting Championship 2022. [35%]
Rafa Gallo helped found the International Rafting Federation (IRF) in 1997 and served in a leadership role, including as president, vice president, and first honorary president, until his death in March 2021. He was a strong supporter of Team RAFA, and the team members are proud to represent his legacy and RAFA’s commitment to conservation in the Pacuare river basin.
3. PEACE & RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: Funding Team Remando por la Paz (Paddling for Peace) – the Colombian former guerrilla fighters turned peace rafters – to travel to Costa Rica for a one-month hosted exchange to learn the business of rafting ecotourism. [25%]
Rafa led the way in bringing rafting training to these ex-FARC guerillas as a peace and development mission with the United Nations. He helped train the first team in 2018 and brought the Remando por la Paz team to the IRF World Rafting Championship 2019 in Australia, where he served as their coach. Read more about this remarkable project here.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
On Monday morning, March 21, 2022, we’ll announce on our RAFA Facebook and Instagram pages the link to our online charity auction, featuring fabulous, thrilling adventure trips in inspiring places like Alaska, Mexico, Colombia, California, and Costa Rica.
- AUCTION: Bid on any auction items of your choice. You have excellent odds of winning one or more of these exhilarating adventures! You can bid more than once on the same trip if someone else is trying to outbid you.
- DIRECT DONATIONS: RAFA will specifically use donations for planting trees on April 24, 2022, during the Festival RAFA for Conservation of the Pacuare River Basin. The cost per tree is $5.00 and includes purchasing the tree (native hardwood species), labor to plant the tree, and expenses to care for the tree for 3 years after planting.
SPREAD THE WORD AND SHARE ABOUT RAFAUCTION!!
Please help us spread the word by sharing our auction on your social media channels or by email with all your friends, family, and contacts, using the hashtag #rafauction.