An Opportunity For You To Be A Part Of Alto Al Crimen

[NewsLady]

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO BE A PART OF ALTO AL CRIMEN

Over six years ago Alto al Crimen was founded to fill a community need for an improved way to respond to crimes and other emergencies and to reduce residential crimes by helping people know how to make their homes more secure. Crime is a quality of life issue. Without community support for the existing public services and without a way to communicate with those services in cases of emergency, things could not improve. Things have improved considerably since AAC has been active. However, history tells us that complacency only creates opportunity for these problems to resurface.

The Alto al Crimen bilingual Hotline has been answering and responding to emergency telephone calls from our hundreds of registered members, as well as non-registered tourists, short term residents and the general public for over six years. AAC answers all calls to aid any folks in need. It is a non-profit foundation funded by donations. We apply the principle that if everyone gives just a little, we can provide a very valuable service at an almost negligible cost. We ask every person or family who is registered in our database for a minimum donation of $20 per year, more if possible. In a way, you can think of the AAC Hotline like insurance. You donate $20 or $50 per year, and then hope you do not need to use it. The comforting thing is that it is there if you DO need it.

Though years have passed and people have changed, our work is still as important as always. With your donations and support we provide liaison with the Boquete police and the bomberos and ambulance services. We maintain a secure database with detailed directions to homes and other information. We pay a full-time bilingual operator who is available to respond to emergency calls 24 hours per day and who also can provide quick translation services for traffic stops, accidents or the like. Without these services over the years, life would likely be considerably different these days. We all benefit most when things are quiet on the emergency front. The quieter times we experience are in no small part due to your active support of the AAC Hotline and its services. And, of course, we also credit neighborhood watch organizations and our police as well.

Alto al Crimen is a volunteer-supported operation. We are fully dependent on volunteers to make AAC function and on voluntary contributions to pay the bills. It is our aim to continue to serve the community and to improve our services. This requires volunteers who help with some of their time, mostly at home with maybe an occasional meeting. This community is rich with talented, retired folks who could aid with the work of AAC.  We need YOU to consider such a commitment and join us once you discover how and where your talents and experience can help your community to be safer.

Since AAC is fully dependent for operating funds on donations from the Boquete Community, we have a rather austere budget. A minimum donation of twenty dollars per registered member in a year will run AAC, but with no frills. Of course, when donations are voluntary, there are always some people who somehow don't get around to donating. That is why we ask for a minimum donation of $20. People who can afford more are encouraged to contribute more to keep the system viable. Funds are used only for the costs of operations, occasional equipment purchases and, on rare occasions, for private investigations. We have only one employee who tends our bilingual 24/7 Hotline and who now has a phone with two numbers and instant access to our registration data-base. He has the newest and the latest programming in order to give accurate directions to any emergency services you and the community may need. We also have a bilingual back-up operator who is also fully conversant with the needs of the job, if needed.

At this time we would like to add members to our board of directors, and we particularly need a volunteer to help with database management. We use a simple but secure, menu-driven WordPress database that does not require programming skills. We also need a talented writer to share information with the community via local social media and on our website. If you have organizational and fund raising skills or experience, you can help assure the continued success of Alto al Crimen. And, if you have basic bookkeeping abilities (only at a simple level), you could help us in that area and thus spread the work out so that there is no really heavy demand on any volunteer.

Please seriously consider helping AAC move forward with your help. Please send an email to both Bob Gregory and Tom Counter at the following addresses, giving us your name, contact information (email, phone, WhatsApp), areas of interest and experience, etc. Also ask any questions you may have. We'll respond to you individually and then organize a meeting at which we can all discuss Alto al Crimen.

                    rhgusn@yandex.com                       studiotomaspanama@gmail.com