Help Hibiscus Garden recover, protect ten local employees and their families, and rebuild a safer future in Panama.

In 2016, I bought a property on Panamá’s Pacific coast with a vision: to create an escape for artists, creatives, surfers, fishermen, and nature lovers. Over the last ten years, I have continued investing in and improving the property, working toward something bigger than a hotel. We have created a retreat center and a lasting community asset.

At Hibiscus Garden, we make a point of hiring locally and working with local artisans. We have supported our local school and youth teams, including community projects such as lunch tables and jungle gyms through our nonprofit partner, Akira’s Book Club.

The property has also become a place for people to gather and celebrate: quinceañeras, graduations, family events, retreats, and creative gatherings. We have welcomed women’s and youth retreats and provided a haven for musicians and other artists, as well as travelers drawn to this extraordinary natural environment.

Then came the earthquake.

We are safe, and we are grateful for that. But the property has sustained serious damage, and the road ahead will require substantial work and investment.

The restaurant’s entire second floor has been destroyed and is in danger of collapse. The employee lunch lounge and much of the first-floor structure including the kitchen have also been severely damaged. We do not yet know whether the kitchen can be salvaged.

The protective wall at the Villa has crumbled, and there are cracks and seismic damage throughout. The attached workshop has been destroyed, and parts of the outdoor work area are falling apart. Our Garden rooms have foundation and wall cracks that require assessment. Our Sea View building appears to have sustained less damage, while cracks have also appeared throughout the patio around the pool.

These observations are preliminary, not a substitute for professional structural assessments, but it looks like we will have to tear down most of the hotel structures rather than repair. Before rebuilding or reopening any affected areas, we need qualified professionals to determine what can safely be repaired, what can be rebuilt, and how to make the property more resilient.

However, most importantly, there are people affected by all of this.

Our ten employees are the principal providers for their families. With work disrupted for an extended period, we want to establish an employee relief fund of $40,000 to help support them over the next six months while reconstruction gets underway.

We also need to restore the restaurant and grounds that bring people together and continue developing Catalina Combat Club, our community gym project, which has sustained significant damage of its own.

Our initial fundraising target is $500,000. The final cost will depend on professional assessments, repair or replacement options, and construction bids. We are choosing this target to reflect the scale of the recovery we anticipate, not to suggest that every cost has already been determined. Every penny that you donate will go first to the employee relief fund, then to reconstruction. I will keep everyone apprised of exactly where the money donated is going through regular updates. To ensure the highest level of financial integrity and donor trust, all funds raised through this campaign are managed directly through our corporate entity in Panamá. We have established a strict dual-track allocation protocol to ensure your donations go exactly where they are promised:

1. The Employee Relief Fund (First $40,000): 100% of these initial funds are legally ring-fenced exclusively for emergency financial relief for our 10 displaced employees and their families. These funds are disbursed in bi-weekly living-wage stipends via direct local bank transfers (transferencias bancarias locales) to ensure our staff can buy food, secure temporary housing, and support their families while the business is closed.
2. The Rebuild & Community Infrastructure Fund: All funds raised beyond the employee baseline are strictly allocated toward the structural, seismically sound engineering, clearing, and reconstruction of Hotel Hibiscus Garden, our restaurant, and the Catalina Combat Club.

Note on Rewards: All physical rewards (merchandise) and experiential rewards (meals, stays) are funded entirely out of our future operational margins and personal equity—zero donor funds from this campaign will be used to manufacture shirts, purchase CD Lagartero jerseys, or build the custom surfboard. Every dollar you give goes directly to human relief and structural reconstruction. Ledger receipts and progress updates will be posted publicly on this platform every two weeks.

Please find it in your heart to contribute and if unable to contribute PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORK. Together we can restore this place to the community fixture it has been while also making it safer.