Sunflower Celebration brings joy to Friends of Thai Daughters

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER
Tue, 08/08/2017 - 8:00am
The Friends of Thai Daughters banner is the first thing seen upon entering Darrow’s Barn on Aug. 4. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

    Friends of Thai Daughters held its sixth annual Sunflower Celebration on Friday, Aug. 4 at Round Top Farm. Over 220 people came out to support the program and meet Thai Daughters Mee, Pui, Lek, Khai, Faii and Seeda. The celebration was held to raise donations and illustrate the leaps and bounds a family can help underprivileged girls make.

    "Jane and I made a decision, on the spot in Thailand 16 years ago, to try to help some kids who really needed advocates. Those kids have now broken out of the cycle of poverty,” said Patty Zinkowski, co-founder of Friends. “If everyone says… yes to helping someone or stepping up when seeing a need, just think how much better we'd all be."  

    The event had a live auction and raffle as well as lots of food, music and dancing. Musician-artist Douglas Gimbel emceed the event and pegged the mingling people with beaded necklaces during the auction.

    The auction featured a variety of items, including a Topside Inn and local amenities package, a week’s trip for six in Brittany, France, a giant Buddha statue and a Red Sox package. All in all, the auctioned items garnered over $17,000.

    “If you count them up, I think we're well north of 50 people and businesses that came together to make the celebration possible,” said Julie Lamy, Global Program Director. “(It’s a) tremendous feeling to see the community come together to transform lives.” 

    A donation matching $10,000 was offered. It was reached after two pledges of $2,000, three pledges of $1,000, four pledges of $500 and a final pledge of $1,000. An opportunity to make pledges of $25 resulted in many offers. Finally, Boothbay Harbor summer resident Chuck Koch won a raffle for $3,000 and passed the winnings onto the Friends of Thai Daughters.

    “We haven’t finished the financial reconciliation for the event but know that we exceeded our goal,” said Jane McBride, co-founder of Friends. “Thanks to the very generous matching gift of $10,000 from Kate and Bob Horgan from East Boothbay, we were able to raise enough money to build a new kitchen and install a new water filtration system at our Chiang Rai Sunflower House.”

    “Our Thai Daughters who participated in the event were overwhelmed by the generosity of the Midcoast community,” said McBride. “Patty and I are profoundly grateful to be living in such a generous and welcoming place.”

    Said Zinkowski, “Don't discount your ability to effect change anywhere on the planet.”

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