About

Mission Statement

The Sharing Foundation’s mission is to help meet the physical, emotional, educational and medical needs of orphaned and seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Our goal is to help prevent some of the problems of poverty by developing, in consultation with Cambodian community leaders, programs to improve the health and welfare of these children and their families.

Overview

The Sharing Foundation (TSF), founded in 1998, started with a small school and clinic built at the Cham Chao Orphanage, now closed. The Foundation today serves over 1,500 children daily, through numerous ongoing programs. These include the Roteang Orphanage, a Montessori-based preschool, Khmer literacy and English language programs, high school and college sponsorships, a farming cooperative, a computer school, and a sewing school. Other initiatives include multiple clean water projects, provision of school uniforms for street children, sponsorship of handicapped children in their homes so they will not be abandoned, and large immunization outreach efforts.

By hiring Cambodians to manage all programs and offering strong oversight and mentoring, TSF helps increase the number of trained Cambodians ready to serve and lead their communities into the future. In-Country Director, Chan Kim Leng, known as Elephant, now oversees eight program managers, and manages several programs himself. TSF Founder Nancy W. Hendrie, M.D., or another senior Board member, travels to Cambodia every three or four months to follow up on each project and confer with Elephant and others.

TSF’s full commitment to Cambodian children growing up in their own country is endorsed by the 21 members of the Foundation’s U.S.-based Board of Directors, and supported by multiple volunteers who assist with TSF events and program development.

While many TSF initiatives focus on Roteang Village in Kien Svey District, about 40 minutes from Phnom Penh, the Foundation also assists multiple other communities. We work hard to form productive relationships with community members, to investigate needs as they see them, and to evaluate possible programs. We follow every dollar closely to ensure it is productively spent. The Sharing Foundation’s annual budget is just under $300,000. Most funding comes from individual donors. Additional support comes from a few family foundations and corporations, craft sales, and small fundraising events. As we pay no Americans, and have “offices “ only in Board members’ homes, our overhead is consistently under 10 percent. Ninety-one cents of every dollar donated supports our programs in Cambodia.