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
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