Our Baseball Equipment Delivery to Panama: A Short-lived Success Story

The Backstory

On June 28, 2023, the Wepah Foundation hosted one of its first fundraisers in New York City. The turnout was amazing, we received many generous donations, and our non-profit organization was able to raise over $600 to purchase new baseball equipment for two underprivileged boys in Panama. Within three weeks after this successful fundraising event, all necessary equipment was purchased and shipped to a Panama address. However, no one could predict the troubles that would soon follow.

The First Hiccup

Problems are bound to arise when delivering to foreign, out-of-country addresses. In our case, the first issue to occur was a zip code misunderstanding. Wepah Foundation’s CEO Anahís Barrie had been given an almost complete delivery address in Panama, but there was only one thing missing: a zip code. 

The Wepah Foundation was not going to let this delay our delivery! One of our event coordinators immediately inquired about this matter, but was given an incorrect code. Our CEO then followed up on the matter further and relayed the correct zip code to the equipment’s shipping personnel. The baseball equipment was successfully shipped and on the way!

A Series of Equipment Complications

After finalizing the delivery address's zip code, various delivery delays occurred upon the baseball equipment’s arrival in Panama. First, the package had to be held for a clearance process, as it was an imported good. After Panamanian FedEx officials approved of the import, it was again placed on hold due to its late arrival to a local FedEx facility. Nevertheless, the package was scheduled to be delivered the next day.

Our delivery should have been successful on this day, but the equipment’s delivery underwent other complications instead. Over the span of the next two weeks, we received the following delivery updates: “Customer not available or business closed,” “Incorrect address – Apartment/Suite number,” “Held, unable to collect payment,” and “Returning package to shipper.” Fortunately, we were able to resolve all of these setbacks and the equipment was finally delivered on Friday, August 18, 2023!

The Unfortunate Event

After multiple drawbacks, the Wepah Foundation was able to deliver baseball equipment to two young stars on a local Panama baseball team. The two boys were overjoyed by the sight of their brand new baseball bats and protective helmets! It was all too good to be true.

Over the weekend, however, the boys’ baseball facility was robbed. The stolen items included the new equipment purchased by the Wepah Foundation as well as old equipment utilized by their team. 

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The Wepah Foundation will be holding future fundraisers in an attempt to help replace this Panamanian baseball team’s stolen equipment.