Who & How We Help

The 100 Friends Project has a unique approach to assisting the needy in developing countries. Our main focus is on helping the most vulnerable, namely children, impoverished families and the elderly. There is only one specific criterion which defines those we aim to bring aid to, and that is that they are in need of help which they are not getting from any other source. Usually our trusted local partners connect us to the individual or family in need of our help.

Often as a condition of aid we have a policy called "Paying It Forward." When we ask someone to pay it forward, it simply means that we ask them to repay by doing a good deed for someone else. In this way, they can help others to keep spreading kindness to even more people. We have had hundreds of examples of this over the last 30 years.

One such instance was when I provided fishermen in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, with boats, nets, fishing equipment and bicycles in order to restart their businesses in the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004. I also helped a lady in Nepal who had recently been released from prison after killing her husband while trying to defend her child from his violence. I bought her a sewing machine and materials and provided her with the necessary training so that she could start her own tailoring business. I also help existing local organizations that are working to improve their communities and the lives of the people there by providing them with money, equipment, training programs and other necessary resources.

Here is one example from Cambodia:

Dear uncle!

I gave money you gave to me to the poor in my province. I know a grandma named Sreneath. She lives without job or work. Sometimes she received rice from her relatives and often she does not have enough food to eat. The $5 you gave to me I gave to her and her daughter. Next month I will give her more money or I go to the pagoda and offer it to other grandmothers. Thank you. Sreyboth!

And another of a Tibetan named Namkha on a 100 Friends Scholarship helping Filipino school children:

Dear Marc,

See the photos in the Junob elementary school, it was wonderful memory in my life and now I can feel why you have done this kind of things for so many years. Thank you Marc for knowing me the life is meaningful for doing this, I think I am learning something from you more and more these days.

Sometimes we help a person only one time because we may never see that person again. This can be cash, clothing, food, a umbrella, glasses, transportation etc. We ask them what they need most and usually we can provide it.

For example, for have distributed hundreds of pairs of reading glasses after determining the right power of glasses for each person.

In November, 2007 in a village in Cambodia we learned that the village a dire need for malaria nets. CLICK HERE to read an article about that mission:

And CLICK HERE to read bout a one-time legal training we sponsored for rural women in Vietnam. Topics included: marriage and family law, laws on gender equality, domestic violence prevention and laws relating to children.

Just $7 saved a boy from losing his hand. We met this family in 2019 Lombok, Indonesia. The teenage son showed us his hand which was injured and badly infected which kept him from going to school.

Family assistance can be a one-time donation or ongoing assistance. For example, we are helping 35 families in Vietnam with our rice-scholarship program. 100 Friends is sponsoring 35 children and families with our rice/scholarship program.

One of our biggest aims is to keep children in school. Our Family Assistance Program in Vietnam, one of our longest running programs, offers a multifaceted approach that targets many of the key reasons why children in Vietnam are often forced to drop out of school.

We tackle this issue by providing individualized assistance to the most marginalized children and their families. 100 Friends has been sponsoring 35 rice-scholarships for the last 15 years for children and families which directly impacts the lives of needy children in rural Vietnam.

In Vietnam, education is not only not free it’s expensive. Uniforms, books, lunches etc. all must be paid for and a big reason why many students are forced to drop out is because their families cannot meet these expenses. We have a long list of children on our lists that are in danger of dropping out if we can’t help them in time.

Our subsidy program is active in remote areas where we provide families with rice and meat. With these two crucial foodstuffs, families from the poorest strata, can supplement their meager incomes, either by selling them for extra income, supplementing their diet with them so their money can be spent on school supplies instead.

Previously we financed the construction of a school in Ghazni, Afghanistan that will provide an an education for 1,000 boys and girls who were previously attending school in tents for the last eight years. We also financed the construction of a village school in rural Cambodia. As well as schools, we have also funded the construction of a community center and washing facilities in the slums of Kolkata, India. We have also funded over a dozen libraries in Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Tibet.

Many times we hoped families with income-generating activities. One such instance was when we provided fishermen in Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, with boats, nets, fishing equipment and bicycles in order to restart their businesses in the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004.

We also helped a lady in Nepal who had recently been released from prison after killing her husband while trying to defend her child from his violence. We bought her a sewing machine and materials and provided her with the necessary training so that she could start her own tailoring business.