Suitcases to donate to ELMA School?

Does anyone have 1 or 2 airplane checkable suitcases or bags to donate for Cambodia? A flight attendant friend is flying them there Dec. 29, so I'll fill them with books for the ELMA students. Wheels would be awesome but aren't essential.

Please email cambodiabookproject at gmail.com

Thanks and happy holidays!!

Leah

2010 Semester Update from Vey Lav

Dear Joshua,

Thank you so much for your help, effort and hard work for Elma foundation, we would like to send kind regards to all donors who support Elma and put it under their concerning eyes.

We are all doing fine, the kids attend the classes six days perweek. The new semester which began in the late September, now ELMA help more then three hundred children, included the new students. For more then three years since Elma started its project, we found the significent improvement in the language, acknowlegement of foreign language in Sambour area, noticeable numbers of enrollment, the numbers of drop out become lower etc ..... even it is a small project in Cambodia but we are highly responsible for kids' security while they are at Elma. We work closely with Sombour community and hospital when the kids get sick and injured.

We will send you the photos of the items, the kids handed with the clothes as normal when the stuff arrive at Elma.

We know the donors are looking for their donations and they will be used, we do all our best for all donors......

Best wishes and regards

Vey

Merry Christmas from Joshua & Jeremiah Chan: 9 Boxes to the Students

Dear Vey,

Awesome news! over the past few months, my friends, colleagues and I
have been picking out children's clothes, books and stationery for the
kids at ELMA. Today, we have just shipped all 9 boxes of them out.

How have you and the kids been? please share with us an update!

We really look forward to the kids receiving these items!

Look forward to hearing from you!

This is my blog that I use to share the message of the ELMA kids -
https://achancetoshare.wordpress.com/

Merry Christmas!!!

Love,
--
Joshua Chan

Global warming is still the huge concern for our people

It takes long time to write you back, it has been so hot since the end of winter in Cambodia, as we know it was over 40 degrees today. Malaria and diarrhea are still harming the children and even the adults.

I just talked to ELMA teachers for buying the 2 normal water filters that both cost less than $100 for ELMA School this morning, we hope the proposal will be carried out quite soon as it so important issue related to the kids' health care.

I have also asked Sambour Commune for the electricity and soon the electricity wire will be installed and connected from Old Market area to Sambour directly, but the costs of the Siem Reap electricity is still the subject to be considered by the poor people in the out skirt.

All the best wishes,

Vey

GO Cambodia FUNdraiser at Elixir

A rockstar turnout anytime especially on a school night! Guest bartenders, the Groundwork Opportunities crew, old and new friends mingled and celebrated to raise money for the Cambodian students at the ELMA School.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169088&id=591472423&l=058d465617

Cambodia Project Goes Nonprofit!

Dear friends,

I am thrilled to share that the Cambodian Children's Book Project, which I started in 2008 to send books to the ELMA School in rural Cambodia, now has nonprofit status under my partnership with San Francisco-based Groundwork Opportunities (GO), which operates community-based microprojects in seven countries on multiple continents.

As part of my photography expeditions, I visited Southeast Asia in June 2008, drawn there by the star temple, Angkor Wat. During the week of 4 am sunrise shoots, I was awed by the magnificence of the temples and humbled by my interactions with the children who are living in extreme poverty. I met Vey Lav, who is the principal of the ELMA School in nearby rural Sambour, and he asked me if I wanted to visit the school.

I was honored to be the first non-Cambodian visitor the afternoon students had ever met. In spite of everything Cambodians have been through, they are the most optimistic and hopeful people I have ever met. Vey and the students were so excited to show me their library, a small concrete room which consisted of a handful of tattered books. Knowing that I had access to an abundance of resources once I got home, the Cambodian Children's Book Project was born.

Heartfelt thanks to all of the family, friends, colleagues and new acquaintances who have donated books, clothes, school supplies, shipping funds, time, energy and ideas these past two years. We have helped hundreds of Cambodian children thrive, get basic necessities and stay in school.

The project grew so quickly through your philanthropy and generosity that my apartment joyfully turned into a Goodwill warehouse! By the end of 2009, I knew I either needed to turn the project into a nonprofit or partner with an existing nonprofit. I was blessed to meet the founders of GO in January 2010 at their annual fundraiser dinner / auction.

GO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so starting now all donations to the Cambodian Children’s Book Project are tax-deductible. Because we're an all-volunteer organization, there's no overhead and 100% of the donation funding goes directly to the projects. Thanks to the Google nonprofit grant, there's also no online transaction fee.

If you’d like to continue to support the book project or learn more about how I first became involved with the ELMA School, click here to:

• Learn about other ways to help, check out this wish list
• Become a fan on Facebook

Thanks again for your support.

Love,

Leah

Auspicious Beginning to Lunar New Year

Dearest Philanthropy Mafia,

Thanks to your generosity and spirit, we were able to pay for the shipping to send a box filled to the brim with books, school supplies and clothes.

*33 books

*34 pieces of clothing

*12 colored pencils

*96 no. 2 pencils

*8 markers

*12 oil pastels

*96 crayons

*5 erasers

*3 glue sticks

*2 pads of construction paper

*2 notebooks

Donations from: Teri & Helmut Peindl, Anna Honda, Louise Roberts, Katherine Wong, Martine Jardel, David Klein, Yosh Haggerty, Jennifer Orlando, Fran Navarro, The Lyon Family, Marcia Lau, May Young, Grace Lau, Leah Lau, Allison Lau, Eric Lau, and Cathy Lau.

The Philanthropy Mafia: Andrew Chandler, Anna Shurter, Anna Wallace, Anood Taqui, Autumn Engel, Benny Lee, Brian Checkoway, Camille Calichon, Cristina Tejada, Daniel Clemens, Dee Iraca, Dina Mackin, Dominic Lucia, Dora Fang, Drew Byrne, Fran Navarro, Gray Clossman, Ian Locke, Isaac Hill, Izabela Akerman, Jane Kenny, Jen Greene, Jeremy Mulder, Joanna Parks, John Mack, Jon Marr, Jose Portillo, Julie Brown, Justin from New Zealand, Karl Mauks-Koepke, Lara Edge, Lauren Patti, Martin Chai, Mark Berman, Matt Wood, Michael (Anna's guest), Mo DeJong, Michael Michon, Ray Ortigas, Rick Wood, Sadie, Santiago Suarez, Scott Houston, Sean Iraca, Sheridan Pauker, Tim Lang, Tony Brasunas, Torr Melling, Windy Borman, and Yan Liu.

The Rainbow Connection: Drew Byrne, Helmut & Teri Peindl

Dearest Drew, Helmut and Teri,

Thank you so much for the two perfect boxes of books all of the way up from Los Angeles!

They're such a charming mix of classics like the Tales of Peter Rabbit and educational books like the Children's Atlas of the United States and the Wildlife Fact File. The ELMA students will be so excited to receive them!

Drew,

You are such an angel for spending part of your birthday weekend personally delivering the books. Your love and support have always meant the world to me. To three decades of friendship and counting!

Helmut & Teri,

I have heard so much about you from Drew, I feel like I know you. Across the short distance of our lovely Golden State, I at least feel like I know your kind and generous hearts. You've been such amazing friends to Drew and, by extension, to me. We're so lucky to have you in our lives. Until the next time I'm in L.A.

Love,

Leah

New Year Tidings From the Philanthropy Mafia

Dearest Philanthropy Mafia,

Your generosity started the year on a meaningful note. I sent a packed shipment this morning which included:

*36 books

*21 items of clothing

*62 pens

*40 pencils

*72 crayons

*15 colored pencils

*4 glue sticks

*2 pads of construction paper

*8 pencil sharpeners

Book, clothing and school supply donations from: Fran Navarro, The Lyon Family, Anna Honda, Cathy Lau, Leah Lau, Katherine Wong, Yosh Haggerty, Jennifer Orlando, Martine Jardel, Marcia Lau, Louise Roberts and David Klein.

The Philanthropy Mafia: Andrew Chandler, Anna Shurter, Anna Wallace, Anood Taqui, Autumn Engel, Benny Lee, Brian Checkoway, Camille Calichon, Cristina Tejada, Daniel Clemens, Dee Iraca, Dina Mackin, Dominic Lucia, Dora Fang, Drew Byrne, Fran Navarro, Gray Clossman, Ian Locke, Isaac Hill, Izabela Akerman, Jane Kenny, Jen Greene, Jeremy Mulder, Joanna Parks, John Mack, Jon Marr, Jose Portillo, Julie Brown, Justin from New Zealand, Karl Mauks-Koepke, Lara Edge, Lauren Patti, Martin Chai, Mark Berman, Matt Wood, Michael (Anna's guest), Mo DeJong, Michael Michon, Ray Ortigas, Rick Wood, Sadie, Santiago Suarez, Scott Houston, Sean Iraca, Sheridan Pauker, Tim Lang, Tony Brasunas, Torr Melling, Windy Borman, and Yan Liu.