Finca El Teatro is a 15-acre farm in Las Marias, Puerto Rico that grows coffee, bananas, plantains, yams, and malanga lila. Or at least it did until 2017, when Hurricane Maria devastated it. Because of the advancing age of farm owner Don Antonio Román, Finca El Teatro has sat dormant, unable to produce, with the 80-year old Don Antonio surviving on social security.
But now, a GoFundMe page has been created to help the Román family get the capital they need to return Finca El Teatro into a working farm.
The crowdfunding campaign was started by Belto Román Rodríguez, Don Antonio’s grandson, whose employment with the American Red Cross renders Finca El Teatro ineligible for aid from the organization due to a conflict of interest, per the GoFundMe page. This led Belto to search of other means to raise the funds needed for this grandfather’s farm.
With the GoFundMe, Belto is hoping to raise $60,000 that will go toward:
Home repair
Plow machine
Fix the load bus
Construction of fence for control of theft and wild pigs
Tools and light equipment
Tree crusher
Cleaning of trees for land preparation
Animal feed, fertilizer, and organic fertilizers
As of the time of publication, the campaign has raised just over $300 in two days. For more information on Finca El Teatro, visit their GoFundMe page.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via the Finca El Teatro GoFundMe page
