Building a Bakery
We need your help to begin construction on a bakery at the Caminul Felix Orphanage in Surat Thani, Thailand. Your donation will go directly to the construction costs of building the bakery. All donations are tax deductible through Building Humanity, the non-profit organization the build event.
Why?
As an architectural designer by trade, I have always had the view that as a professional with a set of skills, we should dedicate at least 1% of our time to help people/communities/organizations that need help, but might not be able to afford the services. Last year I decided to pose that challenge to myself and fellow AECOM employees from around the world. I organized a trip to the Caminul Felix Orphanage in Romania. We had 21 volunteers from 8 different offices answer the call. It was phenomenal to meet likeminded people, and ultimately come together and dedicate a week and half of our time to building projects for a community who desperately needed specialized help. With the success of Romania, I thought it could become a yearly event, assisting different communities around the world.
When I learned that the Caminul Felix Orphanage in Thailand needed a bakery, I knew it could turn into a second event. I have now put the call out to AECOM employees/family/friends and am currently recruiting our 2018 volunteers. Opportunities like this allow employees to experience and collaborate in making a difference in their distant coworker’s communities. Think if everyone in AECOM volunteered 1% of their time to pro bono work? What amazing things could we accomplish?
What We Need & What You Get
We have committed to raising the first $10,000 to begin construction on the foundation of the bakery. We will be hosting dozens of fundraisers over the next year, but we still need your help to reach our mark...or exceed it!
We have a couple perks to thank you for your financial contribution. We want to give you a little piece of Thai culture in varying forms as a token of our gratitude.
About the Orphanage
The Caminul Felix Orphanage in Thailand provides families for abandoned, orphaned and rejected children, with priority given to children that have lost their parents to HIV / Aids. The operations of Caminul Felix is unique in that they believe the family is the key to helping abandoned and neglected children, and is the foundation of their success. Families are comprised of a married couple who dedicates their life to raising a “family”. They may or may not have children of their own, but they will begin to take on children over a 2 year period, up to 16-18 children in all, and they will raise them as a family unit. Each family is placed in a home that was built by donors. There are currently 10 families in the Thailand village, all together they care for over 100 children. Once a family reaches its full capacity (16-18 children), that family will remain unchanged until all the children eventually move out of the home. When a young adult moves out, another child is not brought into the family to fill the void, so the home stays constant and children are not constantly coming in and out. This is important in keeping the family unit strong, and also eventually allows parents to phase out of service after 20+ years of dedication, unless they decide to go on to care for a second generation of children.
Their main wish list item is to build a bakery. This would allow them to bake all of their own baked goods for the 10 resident families, as well as providing them with a way to make an extra income by selling baked goods to local stores. They have estimated the total cost of the bakery including equipment to be $50,000 US. They have the plans for the bakery, and are just needing the funds and crew to build. Our team is committed to raising as much funds as possible and then going to Thailand to begin the construction on the bakery.
Building Humanity
This build event is being organized through Building Humanity, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. This means that all your donations are tax deductible!
If you would like any more information about Building Humanity, please check out our website: www.BuildingHumanity.org
