Wash a Car, Save a Child!

My dear friend Patty has been volunteering with Marine Reach for 11 years, and this December she is leaving to be trained to work with Children at Risk. Over the last year, she has developed a passion to help rescue children who have been, or are at risked to be trafficked into the commercial sex trade. During our outreach to Thailand and Cambodia we were able to see the conditions that these girls, as young as 4 and 5 years old, are subjected to.
While in Cambodia we teamed with The Somaly Mam foundation. Somaly is a woman from Cambodia, formerly a victim of sexual abuse herself, who has dedicated her life to rescuing girls from brothels in the heart of Cambodia. This coming spring, Patty and our friend Hope are returning to Cambodia to do a bicycle tour to help raise money for the Somaly Mam Foundation. They are going to cycle 500 kilometers in 7 days all they way from Northern Cambodia to the coast. They have to raise $12,000 to be able to go. (All donations go directly to the Somaly Mam foundation!)
Because I have been to Cambodia, and met Somaly, I am also passionate about this issue and excited to be able to partner with Patty to raise money for these children. This last Saturday we decided to help support her in a practical way and have a car wash to raise money! We set up in a parking lot, and washed lots of cars! We also had a sausage sizzle for people who were hungry while we were washing! I spent the whole morning perfecting the art of the New Zealand Sausage Sizzle, while the students and Patty washed away!
We were able to raise almost $500 that morning! It was a great success, and lots of fun!
If you are interested in learning more about what Hope and Patty are doing in Cambodia, and after that when they move to Africa visit their blog at: th2africa.blogspot.com or for more information about the Somaly Mam foundation: www.somaly.org

Grilling sausages all day!!

Patty and Me!!!

My best friend here, Lauren!