We established The Green Children Foundation March 7, 2006 and received its approval by the Internal Revenue Service, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization on June 21, 2007. (Proof of 501(c)(3) status).
The Green Children Foundation was established to support microcredit, education and healthcare for the poor.
Background
In February 2006, we traveled to Bangladesh to learn more about the amazing work of Professor Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. In addition to learning about Grameen's microcredit programs Prof. Yunus spoke to us about the incredible problem of cataracts in Bangladesh.
There are currently 1.6 million people who have been forced into premature blindness. Each year, an additional 200,000 people join this growing number.
Grameen Bank has established Grameen Health Care Trust, which has started a program building Eye Hospitals in order to help solve these serious problems. Cataracts can be cured with a simple operation which costs as little as $25. This operation changes the direction of someone's life, allowing them to continue using microcredit, support their families and keep their children in education.
The importance of education was another subject that Prof. Yunus addressed and he spoke about the vision of Grameen Shikkha/Education which is another company in the family of Grameen companies.
Established in 1997 it's main objective is to promote mass education in rural areas and provide financial support in the form of loans and grants to poor students. The support Grameen Shikkha provides promotes general development and improves the living standards of poor women and children towards an illiterate and poverty free society.
The idea of establishing The Green Children Foundation was born during our first visit to Bangladesh. However, we became so fascinated that we returned to Bangladesh in June to shoot a music video to celebrate the work of Prof. Yunus and Grameen Bank. The song we wrote is entitled 'Hear Me Now'.
The Nobel Peace Prize
During the fall of 2006 we learned the good news that Prof. Muhammad Yunus together with Grameen Bank had won the Nobel Peace Prize, which is given out each year by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Since we had made a music video about Prof. Yunus and microcredit during the summer, we saw this fantastic event as a great opportunity to launch our first fundraising campaign based on the song and video.
The 2006 - 2007 'Hear me now' - Campaign in Norway:
With the help of our generous sponsors, we distributed CD/DVDs all throughout Norway on the day after the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. A large portion of these CDs were sold or given away to donors in 2006 and another portion in 2007. The campaign was very successful.
Donations and sales in 2006 totaled $605,000.
No administrative or other costs have been deducted from the money received.
Consequently:
$600,000 has been distributed in full as follows:
$100,000 has been donated to Grameen Shikkha in order to establish:
'The Green Children Scholarship Fund'
$500,000 has been donated to Grameen Health Care Trust in order to establish:
'The Grameen Green Children Eye Hospital'
The Green Children Foundation recognizes Prof. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank and its Managing Director, as a man of extraordinary vision and inspiration whose leadership has served as a catalyst to fighting poverty around the world.
We are proud to be working with Prof. Yunus, and have committed to continue supporting his work through The Green Children Foundation.
To all of you who have supported our campaign and The Green Children Foundation . Thank you so much. With your support we are well on the way to building an eye hospital for the poor of Bangladesh and are supporting many talented young students.
Milla Sunde and Tom Bevan
Founders of The Green Children Foundation.
View Financial Documents
2007 Annual Report and Financial information
