“Everyman has sprinkled drops of happiness over those who need it the most”

“It is beautiful to be able to say that in these past years of hard work, Everyman has sprinkled drops of happiness over those who needed it the most.

Thanks to the Christmas Program, we have distributed more than 42,000 toys, more than 15,000 lunches and drinks, more than 12,000 Christmas gift bags, and more than 500 food supply baskets.

With the Doing What We Can Program, we have delivered container loads of custom-built wheel chairs, and countless walkers, walking-sticks, crutches among others medical supplies.

And our other programs described in this section have touched the lives of thousands of other people.

Everyman Panama, makes a stop between so many words to thank God for all we have received during these years and for using us as a means to serve a brother in need. There is no satisfaction greater than that internal feeling of seeing the happiness of a ‘brother’ receiving a basic necessity like a wheel chair, or a walker or, food itself.”

Omar Brunette
—Founder Everyman Panama

With a very limited budget which is funded entirely by private donations from the USA and New Zealand, Omar, the Everyman volunteers, and the local community achieve extraordinary results. Everyman has zero administration cost. Every cent we receive goes directly to programs. It is quite humbling to see how so much is achieved with so little.

Everyman Panama is currently fulfilling its mission through four categories of programs.

PROGRAM 1: CHRISTMAS FOR EVERY MAN PROGRAM

Every year since 2001, we have made this amazing program happen with with just US$10,000. The Everyman Christmas Program is made up of four sub-programs:

1. The Handicapped Children’s Christmas Party
     A Christmas Party with food, presents, and fun for
     200 severely handicapped children.

2. Food Basket Distribution
     A basket of essential foods to 75 of the poorest of
     the poor families in Colon (200 in 2008)

3. Christmas Lunch and Gift Giving
     A hot Christmas lunch and Christmas presents served
     to 2,500 children and parents identified by Everyman
     volunteers as the poorest of the poor.

4.  Children’s Hospital Visit and Gift Giving
    A Christmas Gift and Food basket to all the poor
    children who are in the Colon Hospital on Christmas Day

The program has been made possible each year for just US$10,000 due to the generous efforts of so many people. It’s a major effort involving many people:

•  The University of Colon provides its kitchens for us to
cook in (Their staff volunteer to help us on Christmas day).

•  The university provides the buses to bus the kids in from as far as 30 miles outside Colon (Their drivers volunteer to help us on Christmas day).

•  The merchants in the Colon Free Trade Zone provide the toys at cost.

•  The food wholesalers provide the food at cost.

•  The City of Colon provides the space and the police to run and organize the event.

•  And most importantly, the 80 plus Everyman volunteers led by Omar who, year after year, give up weeks of their lives and their Christmas day to make it all happen.