Janie

Gary Kaplan is a businessman from Brooklyn, NY, who relocated to Costa Rica in the 1990s. This move was in pursuit of his love for travel, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship. He has always had a passion for children, and this is one of the things that motivated him to start the HG Kaplan Foundation

One of the first charitable projects that he participated in was assisting families from Costa Rica who got displaced by catastrophic mudslides. He helped in rebuilding their homes and providing funds to cater to basic needs. Through the HG Kaplan Foundation, Gary provides mentorship and monetary resources to assist children from underserved and underprivileged communities.

Gary Kaplan’s Love for Travel Inspires His Philanthropy

In his early adulthood years, Gary loved to travel all over the world in hopes of knowing life beyond New York. During his travels to places such as Zambia, Africa, he would notice how women and children would travel miles from their homes to get basic needs such as water. This was a shock to him and, at the same time, heart-breaking to imagine that there were still people out there struggling to get basic needs at this time and age.

As a businessman, Gary is used to identifying problems and finding solutions. So, to him, these challenges in the communities were simply problems that needed fixing. His mind would automatically devise plans in hopes of fixing the issues. This is what led him to start the charitable foundation. Though he could not help everyone, he at least gave hope to some.

Primary Focus of the HG Kaplan Foundation

Gary uses a solution-focused approach to lead the HG Kaplan Organization, among many other foundations. The main programs of the foundation include:

• Health education program
• Bed and basic food
• Clinic projects
• Daycare center

Health Education Program

The health education program provides lessons in hygiene, safety, health, and nutrition. This protects children from illnesses and gives them a chance to grow into healthy adults. In addition, through this program, children at risk get emotional support, instilling a sense of trust and love in them.

Bed and Basic Food

The foundation strives to provide basic needs to underprivileged families and children. For example, they build beds for children, improving their quality of life and health. In addition, they have partnerships with grocery chains to provide water and food to these families.

Clinic Projects

Through the HG Kaplan Foundation, Gary rolled out a clinic project in Costa Rica, just near his family home. The foundation later converted the clinic project into a library and recreation center for the community. This was only after they realized that the community no longer needed the clinic.

Daycare Center

One of the issues leading to poverty is that some parents cannot work since they have small children to care for and cannot afford daycare services. The foundation provides daycare services, allowing parents with young children to find work and thus elevating poverty to some extent.

Gary Kaplan’s Will To Help Transforms Communities!

Gary Kaplan’s will to help has helped communities access the essential resources needed to improve their quality of life and live happily. Most of these philanthropic services can get attributed to his excellent entrepreneurship skills and the ability to organize and prioritize tasks.

Innovation, solidarity, integrity, and honesty are some of the solid pillars, which have kept Gary and the HG Kaplan Foundation successful all these years. Every penny is essential in making a positive difference in the community.

The availability of water is a minimum essential for sustaining human life. Unfortunately, many people in disadvantaged parts of the world do not enjoy the luxury of having cheap and clean water available in their homes. Some people have to travel for hours every day just to pick up clean water. In other cases, water can be delivered, but delivery services are prohibitively expensive for the world’s poorest people.

Problems Associated With Poor Water Availability

The problem with limited water availability is that people fall behind when they have to spend hours every day retrieving water from nearby wells or streams. The time spent fetching water could have been spent taking online courses to learn a specialized trade or working for a salary to enjoy more economic opportunity. Retrieving water can also be a significant burden on elderly and sick individuals. In many cases, people who become sick end up dying quickly because they are unable to make the trip to retrieve water.

Water 4 Africa’s Promise

Water 4 Africa was launched in an effort to resolve the water crisis in some of the world’s poorest communities. The organization’s concept was that if people could be given easy access to clean water, they would quickly be able to improve their communities and increase their standard of living. In this way, Water 4 Africa seeks to offer hope to disadvantaged people who are struggling to survive.

Water 4 Africa Can Make a Difference

Water 4 Africa recognizes that rare diseases are common in poor nations because of water quality issues. Children are especially vulnerable to diseases caused by unclean water because their developing bodies lack the strength to break down harmful water additives, such as bacteria, pathogens, and dangerous chemicals. When people of any age drink water that is unclean, they risk the possibility of catching a rare disease that could permanently weaken their bodies or even become fatal.

Unfortunately, sanitation issues are especially problematic in disadvantaged communities that generally lack sufficient educational resources. People in uneducated communities tend to look up to local elders for guidance, and these community leaders often lack an understanding of how to detect harmful pathogens in drinking water. As a result, a broad range of social, economic, and educational issues emerge in disadvantaged nations as a result of bad planning and decision-making. A downward spiral then begins as wages and educational opportunities are lost.

After conducting extensive research, Water 4 Africa concluded that a lack of clean water is one of the main reasons why hunger remains an issue in Africa. Water is necessary for sustaining life, preparing food, and staying healthy. As a result, Water 4 Africa decided to commit to resolving physical water scarcity issues.

To realize the greatest social good possible, Water 4 Africa is careful to balance major global issues, such as climate change and geopolitics, with its overall vision. Ultimately, Water 4 Africa believes that education is the most effective way to resolve sanitation issues.

However, water is also necessary for enabling students to attend school, so the organization also has to strike a balance between immediate needs and outcomes for future generations.

Water 4 Africa has divided its action plans into four key areas that have been identified as the most significant opportunities to make a difference. The major areas that Water 4 Africa focuses on include:

1. Well Repairs

Many villages have their own wells, but the wells are broken for a wide variety of reasons. When it is feasible to fix a well in a struggling community, Water 4 Africa provides the resources to complete the repair.

2. Drilling New Wells

New wells are the most common need in remote villages that rely on distant sources of clean water.

3. Recycling Wastewater

Many African countries have plenty of water, but they are unable to make use of it because of infrastructural issues. Water 4 Africa provides the resources to enable villages to recycle their own wastewater to become self-sufficient.

4. Desalination Plants

Small desalination plants that are powered by solar energy could make an enormous difference in remote communities. Therefore, leveraging innovation in the desalination industry is a key focus of Water 4 Africa.

Gary Kaplan founded Water 4 Africa after realizing an extreme need for water after a trip to Zambia. Kaplan saw long lines of people queuing up to receive water, and he realized how this problem was leading to an enormous loss of productive labor hours. Consequently, Kaplan founded Water 4 Africa to make an enormous difference in the lives of people struggling to gain easy access to clean water.