Cambodia4Kids.Org

Meet Sina: She Helps Make Those $10 Uniforms: Only A Few Days Left To Make Our Goal!

Sina, age 15, is an orphan and head of her family -- two younger sisters aged 11 and 8 (Sina is in photo with the white shirt and blue shorts on the left). She earns a monthly wage working for a sewing school and shop, a vocational program run by the Sharing Foundation that trains young women so they can earn a sustainable living wage with a home-based sewing business or get a better paying job in Cambodia’s garment industry.

Sina helps makes school uniforms that the Foundation provides to over 1,000 street children in Cambodia so they can attend school.  Sina’s younger sisters are 2 of over 500 students who are learning English in a program in the local village supported and run by TSF.

This year we could more than double the number of uniforms we provide to children in Cambodia, including some for HIV children's group homes.  The Sharing Foundation has the opportunity to receive matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge program. This could make a big difference for thousands of children in Cambodia.  We need just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars before December 31, 2006

Here's how it works: Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of the year using its new "charity badges."  (see below)  What is important is the number of donors, not the amount of dollars.    

A large number of people contributing just the minimum of $10 each would make all the difference in the world.  (We also would be happy to receive larger contributions to help more children lift themselves out of poverty through education and the Sharing Foundation's other programs.)

Can you think of a better use of $10 or more? Send poor Cambodian to school, provide employment for young women like Sina in Cambodia, and help the Sharing Foundation raise additional dollars to help address poverty in Cambodia.  Simply click on the orange donate button on the charity badge located in the side bar or below.  If our campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we raise.  So, why not help us today!

Help Sharing Foundation Win Yahoo Charity Badge Challenge and Send A Thousand Cambodian Youngsters To School!

Many children in Cambodia do not go to school because their families lack the $10 for a uniform, required for school attendance, and other school supplies.  Last year, The Sharing Foundation sewing school made over 1000 uniform sets and donated them to needy children in Roteang Village, to the Street Children's Assistance NGO, and to a poor government orphanage.  Our sewing girls, who EW employed by the Sharing Foundation's vocational training program, earn from the first day of their training, so this is a win-win situation. 

This year we could more than double the number of uniforms we provide to children in Cambodia, including some for HIV children's group homes.  The Sharing Foundation has the opportunity to receive matching dollars from Yahoo via the Network For Good Charity Badge program. This could make a big difference for thousands of children in Cambodia.  We need just a few minutes of your time and a few dollars.

Here's how it works: Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of the year using its new "charity badges."  (see below)  What is important is the number of donors, not the amount of dollars.  Right now, the Sharing Foundation is number 2 and needs 20 more donors to catch up.   

A large number of people contributing just the minimum of $10 each (which would send a poor Cambodian child to school and of course, we're a very efficient small nonprofit and would be happy to receive larger contributions to help more children lift themselves out of poverty through education.)

Can you think of a better use of $10 or more? Send poor Cambodian to school, provide employment for young women in Cambodia, and help the Sharing Foundation raise additional dollars to help address poverty in Cambodia.  Simply click on the orange donate button on the charity badge located in the side bar or right below. If your campaign has the most individual donors, Yahoo will match what we raise.  So, why not help us today!

Happy Holidays!

Exploring Adoption Posts About Widget Campaign: Thank you!

Laura Christianson, author of the "Exploring Adoption Blog" has written a great review of the widget fundraising campaign on her blog.  I'm linking to her because I know some of the readers her are adoptive parents like me. Her blog focuses on information relevant to couples who are considering, in the process, or already adoptive parents.  It's an excellent general adoption resource.

Update on Sharing Foundation Campaign for Leng Sopharath

We are very grateful to everyone for their contributions,  links, and advice.   I'm elated that we surpassed our goal to support Leng Sopharath's second year at college. 

I'm not ending the campaign.  Why? 

Meet Sin Vuthy, pictured above.  He is one of ten students being sponsored for their freshman year through the Sharing Foundation's education programs.  His college fees for this year have been partially sponsored, so we want to raise more money to support him and other young people like him who benefit from the Sharing Foundation's education programs.

Leng Sopharath and Sin Vuthy are only of two of more than 1,300 children that the Sharing Foundation educates.   These two college students represent the top tier of the Sharing Foundation's educational programs.  In order to get to the point of sponsoring young people for college, the Sharing Foundation begins at the pre-school level with a Cambodian version of a Montessoui Pre-School in Roteang Village.   The foundation also sponsors a "head start" program for the children of the poorest villagers who work in the Foundation's farm program that provides the families with needed income.   In the local Roteang village school, the Sharing Foundation runs an English Language program that is teaching over 500 children to speak English.  The Foundation also provides capital improvements such as a new roof, a new library, and pays for school supplies.   

The village school stops at the elementary level and if students want to continue in high school, they must pay for high school, a luxury these promising young peoples' families can't afford.  The Sharing Foundation sponsors over 40 high school students - their tuition, transportation, uniforms, and supplies.  Plus, our sponsors provide important emotional support via personal letters.  Last year, our first "class" of high school students graduated and ten students passed the entrance exams for college, including Leng Sopharath.   This year, another ten students are being sponsored for college, including Sin Vuthy.  Read more here.

If you haven't yet made a contribution, I'm using the Network for Good Charity Badge for this round because Yahoo is providing some matching money!  So, please make a donation and help support more than 1,300 poor children in Cambodia for their education.

More information at
http://www.sharingfoundation.org

Donors:

Richardo Carreon
Lisa Canter   
Britt Bravo    
Teresa Crawford   
Kenneth Gierke   
Michele Martin   
Thomas Rogers   
Michael Hoffman   
Katya Andresen   
CDJ Wilcox    
Somongkol Teng   
Stewart Robinson
Tim Rose   
Ken Goldstein   
Michael Hannum
The children at Ptea Ponleu Vichea, a youth center in Battambang
Caroline Meeks, Solution Grove
Stephen Sherlock
Paul Lamb
Jonathan Davis   
Nancy White
Alexandra Samuel and Robb Cottingham
Erin Denny (Aka Agent Handy)
Evan Tate
Scott Lesniewski   
Angela Klein   
Usha Venkatachallam  

Links/Posts

Pam Ashlund, Nonprofit Eye Blog (some advice about tax documentation)
Emily Weinberg from the Nonprofit Blog Exchange
Michelle Martin from the Bamboo Project
ChipIn News Blog
CrowdFunding (that is that awesome vlogger Sull)
First-of-its-Kind (Peter Dietz - excellent advice on how to go about these campaigns)
Michael Hoffman at See3
Second Life Blog
Britt Bravo on Blogher
Britt Bravo on her personal blog
smArts & Culture
FiSpace
Micropersuasion
E-politics
Ricardo Carreon
Solution Grove

Mongkol, a Cambodian college student who is studying in the US on a Fullbright Scholarship and knows the importance of a college education had this to say.

Keun Fast, another Cambodian blogger.
Tharum, who I had the pleasure of meeting via my work with Global Voices, has linked to the Campaign.

I also want to thank Ken Goldstein for sharing with his network on YouTube.

Carnet Williams at the ChipIn blog has kept a record of links and dollars here.

Katya Andresen at the Nonprofit Marketing Blog gave me a guest spot to write about the campaign and solicit advice from colleagues here.

Khmer Version: Take Back The Tech

Via Jinja's blog

The first Cambodian Rabbi

  DSC_7900 
  Originally uploaded by arie....

Via this link