My name is Tamara Walker and I'm the Founder and Director of Twenty9Eleven Ministries in Emerald, Qld. The reason for this crowdfunding campaign is to request your support for a visit to Thailand in October 2016.
Our not-for-profit charity fundraises for AIDS orphans in Udon Thani, Thailand, so that these children can go to school and create a future for themselves that sadly their parents wanted but couldn’t achieve. Some of these orphans are themselves HIV+ and some have AIDS. The Lions Club of Udon Thani have been supporting these children since 2005, and we have been partnering with them since 2008. You might have seen our posts on the various Facebook community pages here in Emerald for our different fundraising events.
We have a Thai Stall and a Sno Cone Stall which are at almost all of the markets here in Emerald. We also have a Sausage Sizzle at Harvey Norman almost every month, and the sponsorship money that comes from generous and committed sponsors who want to be more personally involved with helping these children. One of those sponsors is Gillean Dowey who came to Thailand with me in 2014. She is also at most of the fundraising events and is a wonderful support to these children and to this charity. She is also a Director on our Board. Gillean will be travelling with me in October, and she will be doing so at her own cost.
Our charity has a lovely group of volunteers who regularly donate their time to help at our fundraising events, and 100% of the profits go towards putting these orphans through school. All of the administration and paperwork is done by myself, and all of this time is donated. There are zero fees with our charity.
I have traveled to Thailand every May for the last 8 years, and have done so at my own expense. But lately it has become apparent to me that once a year is not enough when it comes to the paperwork side of sponsoring these orphans. We don’t have the budget of big charities, but we do have the same desire for detail. Our sponsors would like and deserve more than one update per year on their sponsor children.
Here are the needs for a second visit to Thailand in October 2016.
• The paperwork from the May visit has now been translated into English and there are questions that haven’t been answered;
• Some of the information in the paperwork needs clarification;
• We need to meet with the nurses in the two provinces to clarify what we need each year on each child’s profile;
• We have recently found out that one of the children has dropped out of school and we need to look into why this has happened and how we can prevent this from happening to other children;
• We want to meet with the children to spend time with them, show our love and support, take photos, give and receive hugs, and if enough money is raised, give them all gifts.
My flight has been booked to depart on Saturday 22 October. Each May visit is saved up for, this one has been put on our credit card.
• The first need is to pay for my flights and accommodation (I’ll pay for my own food);
• The second desire is to buy gifts for the children. The more money that is raised means we can do more for the orphans on this trip. While this isn’t necessary, it would be wonderful to be able to ‘show’ them our love and support. Once I meet the goal of $2400 to pay for my visit, all of the extra money raised will go towards gifts for the kids.
So, I’m asking if you would be willing to donate towards this cause.
The total cost of my flights and accommodation is $2256.76. I’m happy to give you all the itinerary of my visit if you would like. (The reason I am requesting a higher amount is to allow for the MyCause fees).
As there are only 6 weeks until I depart, there is some urgency in this request. Also, if donations can be made before Sept 30 then I will know exactly how much can be gifted to the children (MyCause deposits money at the end of each month, and I travel on Oct 22nd). Remember, once I reach my goal, the rest of the money will go to the children.
If you aren't in a position to give, please will you consider planning a morning tea or a dinner or some other mini fundraising event to help me raise this money? Sometimes it just takes a little gathering of like-minded people to make a big difference...
Please have a look on our Facebook page (facebook.com/twenty9elevenministries) and see all the photos and videos from my recent visit in May. This trip was with my husband, his parents and my parents. They all got to meet the kids whom they sponsor.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for considering helping me meet this need.
Tamara Walker
Good luck!