GreaterGood.org Donates $75,000 to Hunger Relief Efforts for Burmese Children

Seattle, WA, April 06, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Liz Baker, executive director of GreaterGood.org, announced today that a hunger relief grant of $75,000 has been awarded to Community Partners International for the Mae Tao Clinic programs aiding refugee children along the Thai-Burma border.

This funding will be used to provide meals for the children who receive education and care through Mae Tao Clinic’s programs. In the Tak Province of Thailand, there are an estimated 17,000 Burmese children studying in migrant learning centers around Mae Sot. Nearly 3,000 receive all or most of their meals from the Mae Tao Clinic.

GreaterGood CEO Tim Kunin visited the Mae Tao Clinic in February and toured one of their schools for migrant and displaced children. “I was so impressed with the quality of the instruction, and the dedication of the staffers and students. We are honored to be able to help the Mae Tao Clinic provide three nutritious meals per day for these Burmese refugee students, both to combat hunger, and because their education will help their families escape poverty long term,” he said.

The significant number of displaced and migrant children in this area of Thailand is caused by poverty, conflict, and the current lack of educational opportunities in the ethnic Karen villages on the Burma side of the border. Children who have parents working in Thailand often cannot stay with them. Some of the migrant farms and factories require school age children to start working in exchange for permission to live with their working parents. Many parents chose to have their children attend school and live in boarding houses instead.

As many as 182,000 refugees under the age of 19 have entered Thailand from Burma in recent years, according to information supplied by Mae Tao Clinic. While the need for assistance has increased, the clinic staff reports that the cost of food has risen dramatically while donations have dropped.

The $75,000 GreaterGood grant to aid their efforts was made possible by donations, clicks, and other activities on the GreaterGood websites. Visitors to The Hunger Site can donate daily for free to hunger relief efforts by clicking the yellow button on the homepage.

People who wish to support Mae Tao Clinic’s efforts can now make a tax-deductible contribution through GreaterGood’s The Hunger Site or other websites. The latest addition to GreaterGood’s Gift That Gives More ™ program at www.thehungersite.com allows donors to buy a month’s worth of meals for Burmese migrant students for only $10.

More On GreaterGood

The GreaterGood network began in 1999 with The Hunger Site, the Internet’s first “click to give” website. The Hunger Site continues to provide free and quick ways to help fight hunger and poverty in the United States and abroad.

Each click on the yellow "Click Here to Give - it’s FREE" button at www.TheHungerSite.com provides food for those in need, including oral rehydration to combat severe malnutrition in infants. 100% of the "click donations" received from sponsoring advertisers is given to charity. Primary beneficiaries of these donations are Feeding America, Mercy Corps, Partners in Health and Millennium Promise. Additional donations are generated through purchases at The Hunger Site Store, which features a wide variety of fair trade and ethically sourced products including the Global Girlfriend line of clothing and accessories made by women-owned companies around the world.

The Gifts That Give More ™ program enables visitors to make small donations, ranging from $10 to $50, to help specific nonprofit projects, selected charities, or aid in time of disaster. Participation in the Gifts That Give More ™ program is free for the charities involved. GreaterGood covers all fees, including bank charges, so 100% of the donation reaches the selected charity.

Since 1999, GreaterGood has given nearly $30 million dollars to charities across the United States and around the world.