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Yk youth raises cash for orphans
$18,000 collected so far for five orphanages in Mexico Heather Lange Northern News Services Published Monday, August 22, 2011
Thirteen-year-old Cole Philipp, along with his family and friends, has now raised close to $18,000 for five orphanages in Mazatlan, Mexico
Where some people see a problem, others see an opportunity. During a meal in the vacation destination of Mazatlan, Mexico, young Mexican girls came up to the Philipp's family while they were dining and asked for money to buy food to eat that night. "I found that really shocking because I compared us to them and how much we have and how if we want something, we are able to afford to buy it. They have to beg to eat or try and sell flowers or little toys just to be able to afford to eat something that night," said Philipp. A few days later, the family went to visit one of the five orphanages in the area and were sad to see the run-down buildings the orphans were living. Philipp said he thought about what the orphans would do if their run down home ceased to exist. Back in Yellowknife in March 2010, Philipp's Grade 7 teacher at Range Lake North School, Jodi Keats, had her class do a project based on the theme of the movie Pay It Forward, where a kind act is repaid by passing it on to another person. Philipp took part in the project and wrote up a mock plan to fundraise for the orphanages in Mazatlan. With the encouragement of his classmates and family, Philipp decided to make his mock plan a reality. He started up a website and began sending out e-mails to possible donors. Last year, Philipp and his supporters raised $13,748.60 for the orphanages with a large part of the proceeds coming from cupcake sales and family members spreading the word about the cause. Philipp's mother, Stephanie, said the network of family and friends sold about 4,000 cupcakes last year to businesses and people in town. Philipp then teamed up with the Tres Islas Orphanage Fund, a not-for-profit organization based in the United States. Its directive is to provide food, school supplies, clothes, upkeep and medical supplies for for the orphanages. "Their annual budget to support five orphanages in Mazatlan, about 200 children, is $36,000 a year. That's all. They account for every single penny that they are spending," said Stephanie of the fund. "One of the orphanages is for teenage girls who have been pulled off the street from prostitution. They were mostly between the ages of 12 and 16 and the youngest were 11. Cole's money paid for a sewing room and now they are selling table clothes. They now have a livelihood and know how to support themselves," said Stephanie. When they travelled back to Mazatlan to personally present the cheque to the Tres Islas Orphanage Fund, both Philipp and his mother said they were met with amazing gratitude by the orphans. "It was kind of overwhelming. I went up and I didn't really know what to say but I felt connected in a way with the kids and the fund," said Philipp. "The gratitude was a little bit overwhelming. You don't really know how to respond to that. It seems little, what we did, but to them it's such a huge thing," said Stephanie. So far this year, Philipp has raised $4,028.29 and hopes to match the $13,000 he raised last year. Upcoming fundraising events in the works for Philipp includes another corporate cupcake sale and another M&M Meatshop barbecue, both near the end of this month. Philipp is unsure about the future of his fundraising after this year. With entering high school in the fall and spending up to 20 hours a week in the gym to train for competitive gymnastics, Philipp said he will see how things go before making a commitment to continue. Stephanie agrees with her son's decision and said even if Cole doesn't continue his fundraising, the family will stay involved with the orphanages in the future. "We have met these kids so this is really near and dear to our heart," said Stephanie.
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