PATTI LEE AT TASTE OF THE KINGSWAY!
Fri Sep 8, Sat Sep 9 and Sun Sep 10

Patti will be there at the following times:
Fri. 4.00 - 8.30 pm, Sat. 11.00 am - 7 pm Sun 11 am - 4 pm
...or until she sells all the scarves!

Patti Lee will be selling our lovely scarves from Cambodia at a booth outside the very excellent Salon Allure Spa at 3032 Bloor St West, just west of Royal York Rd. On the north side of the street.

We have already purchased the scarves and we sell them at our cost, just to support a weaving centre in Cambodia with which we are very connected. The centre is located on the property of the wonderful, rustic Meas Homestay where all our volunteers stay when we visit Cambodia.

The scarves are custom-designed and hand-woven. They make great gifts. The weaving centre also provides jobs to a number of Khmer women.

CAMBODIA THANKS YOU

Our Three-Part: "Slam Bidding" Bridge Series Cambodia fundraiser lessons held in May 2023 was a huge success and we are all so grateful!!

Congrats to the winners of the early bird draw: Jocelyn MacDonald (Toronto) and Jenny Caulfield (Ireland) who will play in a game on BBO with Barbara and Alex.
The draw took place on May 15th.

1st Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser - a Huge Success!

The Rotary Club of Toronto West (RCTW) in conjunction with the Canadian Landmine Foundation (CLMF) held a very successful fundraiser on June 1st at the chef's house, part of George Brown College. The students handled everything from start to finish. Teacher Sommelier regaled us with facts about the wine, interspersed with some humorous tidbits. Stephen Thiele acted as host for the event and his son, Taylor, had created a video-film, that highlighted the work in Cambodia.

The fun was added by 14 door prizes and 5 fabulous raffle baskets.

Thanks to all of the attendees, and RCTW & CLMF for their fantastic support. Huge thanks to our donors and sponsors: Ticketmaster, Cineplex, Newediuk Funeral Homes, CIBC, Blyth Festival Theatre, the Village Players, Salon Allure, Sempre Pizza & Pasta, the Toronto Blue Jays, the chef's house, and the Canadian Landmine Foundation.

The event raised more than $6,600!

These projects were managed by Patti Lee, who is also a member of RCTW. Ang Mreah has 534 students and 14 staff (271 are female) and Sereysangkum has 120 students and 7 staff (56 are female). All of the recipients are very grateful for these life changing improvements. To all of the contributors -- thank you so much!
Money really goes a long way in Cambodia!

We are already planning for next year, so please plan to attend!
Patti Lee & Barbara Seagram

University Women’s Club Toronto donated a family toilet!

Our thanks to the University Women’s Club – Toronto for their wonderful donation of a family toilet for an impoverished family in Cambodia.

This toilet will be used by Noy Chenda, a student at one of our schools, and her family. In fact, it will be used by her family & her aunt’s family as well.

Her aunt and mother are sisters. Both women are so joyous about this lovely opportunity. BTO completed the construction in June.

Pictured is Noy and some of her extended family. Also in the picture is Phonn, our Assistant Director in Cambodia.

A Vision for Clean Water joined multiple Windsor, Ontario Rotary Clubs in participating in the Walk for Water awareness campaign!

In May, participants carried one gallon of water (8.3 lbs/3.77 kg) for one kilometer in order to highlight the challenges faced by 2.1 billion people around the world that lack access to clean water and sanitation.

Patti Lee & Marina Tango were also selling scarves (all pure cotton) at the event from the weaving centre we support in Cambodia.

Thank you to all the participants as well as those who purchased scarves supporting our Cambodia projects!

Watch Video

Rotary Wheels for Learning (RWFL) Completes Their 11th Year of Bicycle Donations!

BIG thanks to the Rotary Wheels for Learning (RWFL) for their recent bicycle donation at our Taprom Village school in Kampot!

In February 2023, the build went very well and they managed to get all of the bicycles completed by 3pm after which a ceremony of the bicycle distribution was held.

The RWFL also went to two other locations in Kampong Speu & Banteay Meanchey prior to their stop at our school!.

Please visit the RWFL facebook page for more pictures!

We can't thank you enough for your support!
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Patti Lee, Enid Roitman and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your very generous support of our Cambodia projects this year (and every year).

We are so grateful for your caring and compassion. We have 13 Khmer staff, teachers and librarians who do an amazing job of managing our four schools and all our outreach projects.

We have built many toilets for government schools this past year and have many more planned. Also, we have built many toilets for poor families. All of this takes place in very remote villages in Cambodia.

Alex and I are just back from Cambodia this year (October 2022) and spent three weeks in Cambodia. Patti will go next year.

We have started on a new project: We will build some water towers at some Health Care Centres in small communities. Approximate cost: $2500.00 USD per Water Tower.

We also plan to sponsor three students to go to University this upcoming year.
Approximate cost: $650.00 USD per person per year.

Our directors, teachers and librarians thank you and most of all, the children thank you. These are YOUR projects. We could do none of this without your incredible support. Endless thanks.

Silent Auction 2022 Raises $20,000

Cambodia Thanks You...

Some of you donated items. Some of you bid on items. Some of you donated money. And some of you worked so hard to make this happen. All of you contributed significantly to this wonderful result.

This was our first ever Online Silent Auction, held October 6th to 15th. What a learning experience and what fabulous results.

The money raised is enough to pay for our schools for 4 ½ months or to bring clean water to eight (8) Health Centres, outfitting each with a well and a water tower.

Money goes a long way in Cambodia and we will ensure that this money has a major impact there.

Thank you all again for your generosity. It means so much to us.
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Alex and I are just back from Cambodia visiting our schools, toilet and other water projects, including water towers at Health Care Centres.

The children are a joy to be with. They are gentle, respectful, appreciative and ask questions of visitors. One question is not a good one; they ask how old I am!

We play games with them, teach them how to brush their teeth, hand out toothbrushes and toothpaste and give them a quick geography lesson on where Canada, USA and Cambodia are, with the inflatable globes that we brought with us.

The children do not have to attend our schools; they attend governments schools for part of the day. Many travel many miles to attend our schools. They come by bicycle or motor bike over rough roads and sometimes their parents bring them on their motorcycle.

The interest in learning English is enormous. We also teach computer skills to older kids and at one school, we teach mathematics and Khmer (Cambodian language) as well.

Thank you for all of your amazing support!!
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

LAOS THANKS YOU

Our Laos Fundraiser Bridge lesson
(Be a Better Declarer) held on September 14, 2022
was a huge success and we are all so grateful!!

Listen to the Laos presentation by Patti Lee

Thank you one and all for all your generous donations to our Laos water filter programme!
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Patti & Barbara have a partnership with A Vision For Clean Water (AVFCW), a charity headquartered in Troy, Michigan. AVFCW's mission is to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to those who need them through education and collaboration.

Scott Brills is a Board Member of AVFCW and travelled to Cambodia in October, 2019 to see in-person some of our projects. Our Director, Savin, showed Scott our projects.

Travel with Scott as he tours our projects from the back of Savin's motorbike.

You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/OZPA915J2as (YouTube, 19 mins).

Patti Lee and I would like to thank all of you for your very generous donations to Cambodia and Laos this spring and fall.

We have now raised over $58,000.00 for our four Cambodia schools and other outreach programmes in Cambodia and OVER $41,000.00 for Laos (Adopt A Village in Laos) for the purchase of water filters.

We are thrilled and cannot thank you enough. The money goes such a long way in these countries. If you have not yet donated, you may still do so: https://barbaraseagram.clickfunnels.com/cambodia-laos-donations

Did you know?

On On September 23rd. Patti Lee gave a presentation on Zoom, along with Steve Rutledge, President and Founder of Adopt A Village In Laos. At Barbara also gave a lecture at 4:00 pm..

Barbara held another Laos Water Filter Fundraiser lesson on September 30th.

Listen and watch the Laos Presentation
by Patti Lee and Steve Rutledge!

NEW SHIPMENT OF PURE COTTON SCARVES
FROM CAMBODIA

Patti and Barbara have a fresh supply of lovely scarves, all pure cotton, from the weaving centre we support in Cambodia. We also have some black ones.

Of course we have no venues or events at which to sell these.

If any of you think you may be interested in some of these as gifts, please email Barbara and she will set them out on tables in her driveway for you to see. Yonge & Lawrence area in Toronto. ON Lawrence, East of Bayview.

Cost is $15.00 EACH or 2 for $25.00. And of course, we would be happy to mail these also to anywhere in North America.

The money all goes to the weaving centre ladies in Cambodia.

Patti's scarves are larger and a bit more expensive.

Contact Patti Lee at
or
Barbara Seagram at

2020 Water Projects Update

In spite of the pandemic, over the last few months, our Cambodian organization, the Banyan Tree Organization, has been able to work on some construction projects.

Tim Savin, our Director, and Meas Phonn, our Assistant Director, have spearheaded all of the projects: 2 toilets at a primary school, 4 toilets and a handwashing station at a high school, a handwashing station at a third school, and toilets for 4 poor village families.

The three schools mentioned are all government schools near to our own schools and our students go there, as well. We have endeavored to provide the local government schools with good sanitation facilities. This helps to keep the girls in school, at any time of the month.

This could not have been accomplished without the assistance and support of A Vision for Clean Water (AVFCW), a charity headquartered in Troy, Michigan. Our thanks to them and to our donors, who have helped to make a big difference in the lives of many in Cambodia.

THANK YOU!

Dear Banyan Tree Organization,

On behalf of Sok Ann Prey Sandek High School teachers, I would like to express my respect and gratefulness for this great contribution for our school.

We, teachers and students are so pleased to get a new hand-washing station. It would be part of a big behaviour change to increase the hygiene for those kids. And I am really hoping this change will have spread to their family.

Again, thanks so much for your generosity and I am looking forward to meeting you any time in the future.

Sincerely, Kanharin

NOTE: Kanharin is a female teacher whom Patti met this year. She is lovely and works at a nearby government school and is distributing Days for Girls kits to the girls in that school.

THANK YOU!

Thank you Banyan Tree Organization (BTO) from the bottom of my heart for providing four toilets and one handwashing station to Samdech Decho Hun Sen Angtasom High School, said So Yieng (School Director at Angtasom High School). BTO finished building on August 10, 2020.

THANK YOU!

We raised over $31,000.00 for Laos @ our November 8th fundraiser to supply families in remote villages with clean drinking water! 254 water filters to date! We are delighted.

Attendees enjoyed a workshop (hands-on) with Barbara Seagram and after lunch Patti Lee and Steve Rutledge gave a presentation about Laos. A sanctioned ACBL game followed with Masterpoints being issued.

Thanks as well to Enid Roitman who helped assist as always. It was a super fun day!

We also help with bringing water to villages that have no water source. Adopt A Village In Laos does all this, building dams and laying all the pipes. It is phenomenal work. Please remember that 100% of your donation goes towards the projects, not to overhead! Every little bit helps.

Thank you to ALL the attendees @ the Kingston Bridge Centre for their generous donation at Barbara's fundraising seminar (Better Bridge for Better Lives) held October 30, 2019. They raised $6,320! It is wonderful!

Did you know? It costs approximately $52,000 CAD per year (salaries of the teachers and librarians, all of the supplies for the teachers and students, lease payments, electricity, maintenance etc.) to maintain our four schools!

Thanks to Steve Overholt and the players @ the Etobicoke Bridge Centre

...for their charitable donation. This donation will be used by Maria Pollieri (Toronto team for Days for Girls), an Etobicoke-based grassroots charity that sews and distributes sustainable feminine hygiene kits to 6th graders around the world, with the sole purpose of keeping them in school and giving them their days back. Their motto is EveryGirl.Everywhere.Period.
The funds raised by the Etobicoke Bridge Club will be used towards the kit components, primarily fabric, sewing notions, and panties!

"We now use all their kits to distribute to all the girls at our schools in Cambodia. It is a great programme. We were able to acquire 192 kits for our school girls in Cambodia," said Barbara and Patti.

On behalf of the Toronto Days for Girls Team and their volunteers (Richview Collegiate, Etobicoke Colegiate, Rotary Clubs of Toronto West and Etobicoke, the Etobicoke Quilters Guild, Cloverdale Sewing Center, St. Demitrius Women's Circle, and many others), and Barbara and Patti, thank you very much for your support.

In Memory of CAROLYN HEYN

On Monday May 6th and Tuesday May 7th, Joan Johnson ran two bridge games in honor of Carolyn Heyn, who died earlier this year. These games were in memory of a wonderful bridge teacher, a good friend to many, and an amazing, fantastic lady.

Carolyn loved the charity, that Barbara Seagram and Patti Lee started, to assist the children of Cambodia to get educated and to learn good sanitation habits. It also helps village families by supplying families with toilets, and helping the adults to learn new skills and thereby to get jobs.

Together, Carolyn and Joan had run a fundraiser in May, 2018 to raise money for this charity; at that time, they raised over $12,000 USD …. a huge amount of money. Knowing Carolyn’s love for the Cambodian projects, Joan suggested that anyone, who wanted to, might contribute to this good cause. And so many people responded with donations. The total is now over $4,200 USD.

Money goes a long way in Cambodia. $4,200 USD represents 1/8 of all the costs to support all 4 schools and over 600 students for a full year OR it means that 7 families will each have a good, safe, private toilet.

As Joan said, “Carolyn will be looking down from heaven with a big smile on her face”.

We will miss Carolyn, but we will honor her memory with these funds. Thank you all so much.

With gratitude
Patti Lee and Barbara Seagram

OVER $5,000 USD RAISED!
WOW!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You to Pat and Sally and to all of you, who came out and supported this event.

Barbara and I are both so appreciative of your generosity.

The money raised will have a major impact on the lives of the children and families in Cambodia.

Money certainly goes a long way in Cambodia:

$5,000 is 1/7th of the amount of money we need to support all 4 schools and over 600 students for a year (including salaries for 16 people, taxes, leases, hydro costs, and supplies) OR $5,000 would build 8 toilets (separate buildings with extra room for the women to wash themselves. A toilet means that a family has a safe, private facility. Since many families are 3 generational, each toilet is used by 6 - 8 people).

CAMBODIA FUNDRAISER - THANK YOU!!!

Patti and I would like to thank all of you for attending our Cambodia fundraiser yesterday. We had a record number of attendees: 172. You were all amazing. The event was a huge success. We raised over $54,000.00 and we're still counting. We are hoping to still reach over $55,000.00.

Patti and I are still trying to build a war chest so that the schools can continue on for many years after we can no longer do the fundraising.

The silent auction was a great success raising almost $14,000.00. (VIEW ITEMS)
Thank you to the donors who gave such excellent items for auction.

Thank you to all of you for your enthusiastic bidding on these items! The art auction was a big success! Thank you to our wonderful artists, Ann Katz, Indrani De Silva, Joyce Cram and Ron Katz for their donations and also to Westmount Art Gallery, a wonderful west end art gallery that is always so good to us.

Thank you to our volunteers:
Enid Roitman who organized the whole silent auction and never stops helping us prepare for the entire event and works tirelessly throughout.

Ann Katz came the day before to set it all up with us and stayed to pack it all up, as did her husband, Ron Katz who did all the heavy lifting for two full days.

Thank you to John Rayner who was the star of the show and gave a superb lecture on Fourth Suit Forcing with quizzes and hands to illustrate.

Two hours of bridge heaven. John has been so generous with his time over the past few years.

John and his lovely wife, Jill Thompson now run Bridge at the Briars. More information can be found under under cruises and trips. It is a wonderful weekend.

Lee Daugharty. Most of you know Lee. What a guy! He loaned us 24 card tables and all the bridge mates and then came and picked them all up on Friday. Lee is the Director at the Briars.

Josee Hammill is our wonderful teacher at our School of Bridge. Josee just won the Audrey Grant Award for teaching excellence. Josee always helps a great deal with all our events.

Stephen Laufer was our director on Friday and did a great job. I always forget to say thank you to my husband, Alex Kornel who is always there for us and helped with directing the game.

Lucia McCurdy sold (& modelled) lots of scarves for us; Susan Trumper, Josee and Indrani sold art auction tickets. Several other volunteers pitched in. You were all fantastic. Forgive us if we have missed your name.

A HUGE thank you to all of you who generously donated to our Laos project, held on September 21st!

Thanks to you, we raised $21,211.00 for Laos. This will buy 170 water filters which will be enough for two remote villages. 170 families will reap the benefit of having clean water for the first time ever. That is over 1000 people. We cannot thank you enough.

80 people attended our fundraiser on 21 September. Congratulations to Elaine Givertz and Catherine Wang who were first overall and won 5.5 master points! Thank you also to all of you who brought toothbrushes and toothpaste over the past few weeks. That was phenomenal.

Results for the Laos event can be found at https://www.barbaraseagram.com/Results/180921LA.HTM

Please view "Our Laos Projects 2017" flyer for pictures of our adventures in Laos and to learn more about the challenges of this wonderful country.

THANK YOU...

To Denise Donovan, Steve Norris (the organizers of the Caledon tournament) and attendees on September 22nd. They raised $653.00 for the children and our schools in Cambodia.

The Caledon Sectional Tournament is a great tournament for all levels of players. There too was lots of events for the less experience attendees!

Congratulations to the winners of Barbara Segram's & David Bird's Pocket Guide to Defensive Play at Bridge and Barbara's popular cheat sheets!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who generously donated to our Laos project, held on September 21st!

Thanks to you, we raised $21,211.00 for Laos. This will buy 170 water filters which will be enough for two remote villages. 170 families will reap the benefit of having clean water for the first time ever. That is over 1000 people. We cannot thank you enough.

80 people attended our fundraiser on 21 September. Congratulations to Elaine Givertz and Catherine Wang who were first overall and won 5.5 master points! Thank you also to all of you who brought toothbrushes and toothpaste over the past few weeks. That was phenomenal.

Results for the Laos event can be found at https://www.barbaraseagram.com/Results/180921LA.HTM

Please view "Our Laos Projects 2017" flyer for pictures of our adventures in Laos and to learn more about the challenges of this wonderful country.

September 2018 - Thank you to Keith Balcombe and Rob Hanley

...who hosted a Cambodia fundraiser at their wonderful bridge club in Oshawa on September 7th, where $2,463.00 was raised.
They held a fantastic raffle with amazing prizes. Barbara taught a seminar and 80 attended and stayed to play afterwards. Jerry Howarth (the voice of the Blue Jays) attended also and generously donated two pairs of Blue Jay tickets and stayed to play bridge.

August 2018 - Thank you Burt Garrel Regional: Liverpool (Syracuse) NY Bridge Players

...and to Mary Miller, Tournament Chair
...for giving Patti the space to sell the Cambodia Weaving Centre Scarves at this event - AND to all the players who bought them! All money raised goes to the ladies doing the weaving!

July 2018 - Thank You, Bridge Players from Elmira, Painted Post, & Horseheads, NY

One more family will be the happy recipients of their own, private toilet. This is as a result of a wonderful donation in July 2018 by a small group of ladies, who play bridge weekly, from Elmira, Painted Post, & Horseheads, NY.

This is such a fantastic gift, both for the privacy and security of the girls and women in the family, but also as a major health and sanitation improvement. So many children become sick or die from illnesses due to sanitary issues.

Thank you from both of us and from the children in Cambodia!

Our sincere thanks,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

OVER $12,000 USD RAISED! WOW!!!!

A BIG THANK YOU TO JOAN JOHNSON & CAROLYN HEYN and the Bridge Players from Palos Verdes Peninsula, California!

A huge thank you to Joan, Carolyn, and the Bridge Players from Palos Verdes Peninsula for their amazing support of our projects in Cambodia. They raised over $12,000 USD. Absolutely wonderful!

Joan & Carolyn and their team (Maria Ashla, Nicole Berte, Robin Hill, and Phyllis Yarnall) organized a bridge bonanza on Thursday, May 17th in Rancho Palos Verdes. They had a bridge lesson in the morning, a delicious lunch, and a duplicate bridge game in the afternoon.

Throughout the day, they held a Silent Auction, with many lovely items, donated by local merchants.

Money goes a long way in Cambodia.

As an example, the money raised represents enough money to pay all of the salaries, taxes, hydro, supplies, etc for one of our schools for almost two full years, or to supply 20 families with their own private toilet.

The whole day was a wonderful success, and the resultant money raised will have a major impact on the lives of the children in Cambodia.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You to Joan, to Carolyn, to the rest of the organizing committee and to the Bridge Players from Palos Verdes Peninsula, who came out and supported this event. We are so appreciative of all that you have done.

With gratitude,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

OVER $7,500 USD raised!!! WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

On May 3rd, the Penfield Country Club near Rochester, NY welcomed 100 attendees to a day of bridge.

Barbara taught two bridge lessons; Patti Lee made a presentation about our projects in Cambodia; there were lovely breakfast pastries and a wonderful lunch, a fabulous Silent / Chinese Auction combined, and lots of door prizes. The attendees were generous in their support; and many who could not attend also donated. And, the whole event was run by an amazing committee of 6 women, who worked tirelessly for some months leading up to the big day.

As a result, they raised over $7,500 USD!!! Thank you so much to all of the attendees and others for your generous donations. We are very grateful. And a huge thanks to the committee: Pat Smith, Sally Hill, Mary Miller, Susan Rice, Mary Lyke, and Kathy Toole. They handled everything: the promotion of the event, the registrations, the organizing and collecting of the items for the Silent / Chinese Auction, the beautiful presentation of the items, and arranging the site and all of the lovely food.

And on May 3rd, they were there: promoting the Auction, collecting donations and the payments for the Auction, and just generally ensuring that everyone had a wonderful day. Thanks also to Barbara McIver, Judy Newkirk, & Cindy Poole, who helped at registration that day.

Another big thanks to the Sponsors, who donated such amazing things for the Silent / Chinese Auction. Thanks, as well, to the Penfield Country Club. Their staff worked Wednesday evening and Thursday during the day, to ensure that all went smoothly.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! to each and every one of you. For those who attended, we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Thank You... OVER $52,000 raised! A HUGE THANK YOU to ALL!!!

On April 20th 2018, our annual Cambodian Fundraiser was held at the Trinity Presbyterian Church on Bayview Avenue. There was a lesson from Barbara, a presentation from Patti, lots of door prizes, and many goodies to be bid on in the Silent Auction. And, 160 people came to support our schools and other projects in Cambodia.

They generously donated to our event. Some of them also gave us items for the Silent Auction. And many others, who were not in attendance, either donated money or Silent Auction items or both. (Sponsor Listing)

AND, we raised over $52,000!!!! Thank you so much to all of you. We are very grateful.

Thank you also to Alex Kornel, Ron Bishop, and Stephen Laufer, who all gave up their day to be with us and run the bridge game so efficiently and with such aplomb. Thanks to Ann & Ron Katz, Josee Hammill, and Enid Roitman, who were there for the set up on Thursday evening, as well. Thanks to Jane Stephenson for assisting with registration.

And many thanks again to Josee and Enid, who worked tirelessly at the event to ensure all went smoothly, working the registration and organizing the collection of the Silent Auction payments at the end of the day. Enid also prepares all of the slips for the Silent Auction and makes it look so inviting. She is amazing! Without all of this help, we really could not run this event.

So, many thanks to all of the people, that made it happen. And a huge thank you to all of our Sponsors, who donated such amazing things for our Silent Auction. Please see the list of their names on our websites and please support them. They really deserve all of our support.

Thanks, as well, to Trinity Presbyterian Church for allowing us to hold our fundraiser there. The staff worked Thursday evening and Friday during the day, to ensure that all went smoothly. We are so appreciative.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! to each and every one of you. For those who attended, we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

January 2018 - NEW School Opens!

We are very excited to announce the opening of our NEW school in Taprom Village, Kampot Province.

Construction is complete and the teachers received the first enrollment of 158 eager students on 22 January. Monks alo were in attendance to bless the school. (View larger pictures on FACEBOOK)

Our new school has a cistern is for water to wash their hands, something all the students are learning about! They do not drink the water from the cistern. Families drink rain water which is “pure”.

Prior to this school being built, students studied in an "outdoor" classroom, which will still be used to cater for various classes.

Visit banyantreeorganization.com for more information about ALL of our schools in Cambodia.

JUNE 2017 - Another Successful Cambodia Fund Raiser!

Thank you so much to all of you who supported our fundraiser on Friday June 2nd. There were many who were unable to attend but generously donated to our cause anyway. We are so very grateful to all of you.

Thank you also to Enid Roitman, who is always there to help. She makes the Silent Auction table look so fantastic; she greets the people in the morning; and she handles the collection of the Silent Auction payments at the end of the day. We really could not run this function without her.

Thank you also to John Rayner, who gave us all a fabulous lesson on our favourite game, bridge. He is outstanding.

Thank you to all of our Sponsors, who donated such amazing things for our Silent Auction. Please see the list of their names on our websites and please support them. They really deserve all of our support.

One more thank you: A huge thank you to Timothy Eaton Memorial Church for allowing us to hold our fundraiser there. The Timothy Eaton Memorial Church is a wonderful church and we are so grateful to them.

We cannot thank you enough, all of you. for those who attended, we hope you enjoyed the events as much as we did.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Thank You - Clothing Donated AND Delivered!

Lynda Miller donated hundreds of brand new white tops and track pants in all sizes; then Leanne took over this huge supply of clothes and books for us for the schools.

The golf shirts and sweat pants and books were delivered to the Chan Teap School located in Takeo on Saturday, February 6th when they did the bike distribution.

They were most pleased and said to say a big Acun Tran!! (Or however you spell thank you in Khmer).

Barbara Seagram and Patti Lee (along with generous donations from their bridge club members, players and friends received from fundraisers) enable many less fortunate to have BETTER lives!

Please help us in our mission.

Patti and Barbara will take turns going to Laos and Cambodia each year to oversee our projects and to teach while there.

See below to learn more about our fundraising efforts.

Cambodia: In 2011, Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and a group of 50, docked in Phnom Penh. We were armed with clothing, pens, notebooks, rulers, sharpeners, toys, pencils, stickers, and other school supplies. We had heard about an Ontario resident, Lisa McCoy, who had dedicated the last few years to working in Cambodia for several months per year. Working alongside Lisa was a fabulous lady, Australian Pauline Johns. Currently, Pauline is living in Cambodia for 2 months per year and heads up the Cambodian organization ‘Banyan Tree Organization’, which manages all of our projects in Cambodia. Pauline volunteers all of her time and pays for all of her travel and living.

In 2011, Patti Lee, Barbara Seagram and a group of 50, docked in Phnom Penh. We were armed with clothing, pens, notebooks, rulers, sharpeners, toys, pencils, stickers, and other school supplies. We had heard about an Ontario volunteer, who had dedicated the last few years to working in Cambodia for several months per year. Working alongside her was a fabulous lady, Australian Pauline Johns. Pauline has lived in Cambodia for up to 6 months per year and heads up the Cambodian organization 'Banyan Tree Organization', which manages all of our projects in Cambodia. Pauline volunteers all of her time and pays for all of her travel and living expenses.

n 2011, our group and other friends from the Toronto area donated 40 bicycles to a school outside of Phnom Penh. We went there in a small tuk-tuk along the dusty roads through Phnom Penh and out into the countryside to find that the school was a one-room shack with a cement floor and no desks or chairs. The bikes were given to children, mainly children of landmine victims. It was all very uplifting but Patti and Barbara looked at each other and wondered how long this shack would remain standing.

Did You Know? Barbara was in Cambodia for 10 days in February 2015 She visited all the schools and taught English while there! All the school children are looking forward to her return.

We inquired how much it would cost to build a permanent school and found that it would cost $24,000.00. We returned to Toronto determined to build a school. We raised $40,000.00 that year, so we also furnished two other schools and built a library at one of the schools. We now have four schools with over 500 students. We remain committed to sustaining all four of our schools at a cost of $52,000 CAD per year. This pays for the salaries of the teachers and librarians, all of the supplies for the teachers and students, lease payments, electricity, maintenance etc. You can see that money goes a long way in this country.

Over the years, many outreach programs have been undertaken to help these landmine affected families to become self-sufficient: a bike repair business, chicken farmer training, sewing lessons with a sewing machine, crafts, a technology centre, and a weaving centre.

There are many that do not have a safe, private toilet. The absence of a safe, private toilet leads to serious health issues, as well as sexual abuse of women and girls. Our schools all have toilets, thus ensuring that the girls can attend school even during their menstrual period. Without toilets at the schools, the girls would miss 4-5 days per month. After a number of months, they fall so far behind in their studies that they quit school altogether.

Our focus is to make sure that our students and villagers have:
Good hygiene and sanitation practices. This has included installing toilets, wells, handwashing stations, teaching hygiene and distributing Days for Girls kits.

Current and Planned Projects:

1. We are currently sponsoring three students at university. This includes tuition and books.
2. We have now installed 18 toilets over the last 3 ½ years for 18 families in the villages near our schools. FIVE more toilets will be installed over the next year for five other families.
3. We have installed toilets, wells, handwashing stations at all of our schools, and we are now installing toilets and handwashing stations at a number of nearby government schools.
4. We have taught good hygiene and sanitation practices to all of the young girls in our schools and have distributed Days for Girls kits to each of them. We have also extended this program to a large government school. We plan to continue expanding this program to more of the government schools.
5. These last two initiatives ensure that the young girls can stay in school, every day of the month.

UPDATE: Nov. 2017 - Family to Receive Toilet
BTO will provide a bathroom/toilet at the home of farmer Soem Thorn, who lives with his wife, khun Sithon and their 5 children in Angtasom, Takev. A further 9 families in Takeo and Kampot will benefit from this project in the coming weeks.Continued...

20171019 - UPDATE:
More Students Heading to University
Some of our students will be going to University next year. They're making good use of Am Pov's weekend computer classes. Continued...

20171004 - UPDATE:

Construction for the new school commenced this week in TaProm Village, Kampot Province. Savin has been teaching some students in his spare time. They’re very excited to soon have a new classroom and library for their studies.

SreyLin is our first scholarship student. With thanks to the support from Patti Lee and Barbara Seagram she is able to live in Phnom Penh and study at Pannasatra University. Continued...

Patti and Barbara are excited and optimistic about all of these projects and the fundraisers that we do every year. If you are unable to attend one of our fundraisers, but still wish to make a donation, we would be so grateful. Barbara and Patti are an Agency of a charity in Canada; as well, they have formed an alliance with a charity in the USA. As a result, all Canadian and USA donors can receive tax receipts, valid for their own country.

Cambodia

THANK YOU to Jan and Phil and to all those who attended Barbara's bridge class held in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (February 2017).

We raised $9,500.00 USD for Cambodia!!!. VERY exciting and the $$ will go a long way to help so many people.

THANK YOU... To all our Cambodia supporters!

Our annual Cambodia fundraiser took place on Fri 29 April 2016 and to date we have raised $33,556.00!! A big thank you from Patti and I for your incredible generosity! Our annual Cambodia fundraiser took place on Fri 29 April 2016 and to date we have raised $33,556.00!! A big thank you from Patti and I for your incredible generosity! It costs us $52,000 CAD (as of 2021) per year to sustain our four schools. In addition, we also have outreach programs for landmine survivors and their families. It is also important that we build a "war chest" so that our schools can be sustained for some years after we are no longer able to do fundraising.

Our thanks to John Rayner for entertaining us and teaching us so that by this time next year, we will all be ready to represent our country!

Our thanks also to Enid Roitman who is our right arm at all times. She is so organized and her attention to detail is legendary.

So many of you helped but special thanks also to Ann Katz who came at the crack of dawn and helped us so much with set-up and put away.

A huge thank you to the merchants and to so many of you who donated items for the silent auction. Our premier item was the Farmhouse in France owned by Sally Moore. Sally has generously donated a week at this wonderful farmhouse year after year for our auction. It was purchased for $2,500.00 so you can imagine that we are delighted!

Congratulations to the winners of the game that afternoon. This was a sectionally rated championship event (as are all our fundraisers).

• Helen Wiber and Magdi Barsoum came first overall and won 7.31 master points!! WOW!!
• Peggy Sinclair and Janet Dunfield came second overall and won 5.48 master points!
• Shirley Towers and Barry Spinner were third overall winning 4.11 points and Holly Kee and Marg Roberts were fourth overall and won 3.48 points.

Our 4th Annual Cambodia Fundraiser raised $5,233.00. We are really pleased.

Thanks to Linda Harrison, who never stopped for a moment and was unflappable as always. She is amazing and is such an excellent volunteer.

Our thanks as well to Carolyn and Karen, who were also wonderful. Thank you too to all those who donated to our Silent Auction and those that made the bids!

Thank you so much to all of you who supported our fundraiser on Friday May 1st, 2015. There were many who were unable to attend but generously donated to our cause anyway. We are so very grateful to all of you.

Thank you also to Enid Roitman who is always there to help. Her organizational skills are legendary and there is no project too daunting for her.

Thank you also to John Rayner who gave us all a fabulous presentation on hand evaluation, bidding and defence. He is outstanding.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, who donated such amazing things for our silent auction. Please see the list of their names on our websites and please support them. They really deserve all of our support.

One more thank you: A huge thank you to Habonim Synagogue for donating the space for our fundraiser. Habonim does such good work in the community and we are so grateful to them.

We raised over $31,000.00! That is an amazing number and we are over the moon about it! In our very first year, we raised $8,800.00. Last year: $22,000.00 and the figure this year is staggering! We do need it as we have many projects ahead of us in Cambodia; these funds will be put to very good use helping us to ensure that the mothers, infants, and children receive the health care that they need and the education we would all wish for!

We cannot thank you enough, all of you.
Those who attended, we hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did.

Yours sincerely,
Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee

Please visit the Banyan Tree Organization website (www.banyantreeorganization.com).

Congratulations to the Winners of the Game:

• 1st overall out of 57 pairs! Joyce Cram and Paul Rolfe 65.28%
• 2nd Overall: Jill Thompson and John Rayner 64.57%
• 3rd Overall: Sharmeen Khazzam & Lee Daugharty 63.19%

Toronto, Gravenhurst and other communities in Canada have been incredibly generous in supporting our projects in Cambodia. These include supplies, overhead costs and staffing of four schools and two libraries. We now have 580 students in these 4 schools. The libraries are the only source of books in these remote villages. We have now recognized that there is an enormous need for a Family Health Clinic in Takeo province, where some of our schools are located. Most of these families never see a doctor and some things that could be rectified go undetected until it is too late.

Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee, along with players from all over Ontario, raised money in 2012 to build a school in Cambodia, ½ hr out of Phnom Penh.

With extra funds raised, they also built a library at another school.

They also furnished three schools, supplied electricity to another and provided books and computers to a current total of four schools. Two of the schools are in very remote villages.

They are committed to sustaining four schools in Cambodia over the next many years.

Lisa and Pauline, who are Board Members of AMFW and Founders & Operators of BLT, conduct the work of these organizations.

It costs approximately $54,000.00 a year to sustain these schools and libraries.

Please visit the Banyan Tree Organization website (www.banyantreeorganization.com).

Thanks to all who supported our recent Cambodian fundraisers held at our Out of Town Seminars!

• Our 3rd Annual Cambodia Fundraiser in Gravenhurst on October 2, 2014 raised $7,200.00. GREAT work by Linda Harrison and her team, Carolyne and Kelly.
  
  
• On August 15, 2014 Barbara taught a class to the Haliburton Bridge Community, after which they all played bridge. They raised $1,500 for our Cambodian Schools!



• $2000.00 raised at
  Can-At Regional
  on July 1
  
• $500.00 raised at
  Bridgewater Bridge Club
  on July 9

Thank YOU! - July 3, 2014
WOW!!!! WHAT A FUND RAISER!!!! OVER $22,000 Raised

Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee wish to thank all of the attendees, donors, sponsors, and all of those, who bid on the Silent Auction at our Cambodian fundrasier held on June 19, 2014.

The Silent Auction bidding began almost a week before the event, with Patti taking bids by phone and email. The excitement rose as we got closer to the event.

The attendees seemed to love the day itself. Barbara taught a lesson on "doubles" and Patti made a presentation on Cambodia and where the money is being spent. A bridge game in the afternoon with prizes and of course, lots of coffee, a nice lunch, sweets and fruit, and door prizes for at least half of the attendees rounded out the day.

Our special thanks to Enid Roitman for all of her help before the event and all day on June 19th. She makes it all look so easy. As well thanks to Cathy Hogg, who helped us that day, and to Mirko and his staff for the wonderful food.

And most of all, thanks to you for your wonderful support. It all happens because of you!

Barbara, Patti, and the children of Cambodia are so appreciative.

Thank you everyone for your generous support. We raised $2,440 with this draw which was held Jan. 13th.
The money (every dime) goes to our Cambodia schools.

Patti and Barbara hoped to raise $1,500.00. We only dreamed about making $2,000.00... and we have EXCEEDED our wildest expectations with this total of $2,440.00. We are thrilled!

The real winners are our schools and the children. But the winners of the draw are:

• Ballet Tickets to Onegin: Maggie Nebout
  Donated by Patti Lee
• Original Framed Watercolour: Mitchell Picariello
  Donated by John Verkaik
• Defence Course: Betsy Bertram
  Donated by Barbara Seagram
• $150 Ceramic Flat Iron: Libby Hall
  Donated by Joe of Salon Allure
• Barbara's Bridge Books and Software: Libby Burton
  Donated by Barbara Seagram
• $50.00 Gift Certificate to Salon Allure: Judi Fenton
  Donated by Joe of Salon Allure

UPDATE: 20131109
Niagara Falls Regional Tournament

Thanks to all who participated in the "Take More Tricks... Improve Your Delcarer Play" fundraising seminar for Cambodia by Barbara Seagram.

All money raised (every dime) goes directly to Banyan Tree Organization schools in Cambodia. These schools are built and sustained by Barbara Seagram, Patti Lee and the bridge community of Toronto and beyond!

UPDATE: 20130926
Successful 2nd Annual Fundraising Bridge Seminar & Luncheon

A fun day of bridge with Bridge Masters Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee was held on September 26, 2013 in Gravenhurst, which included door prizes and silent auction! Thanks to the participants, $4,257.00 was raised at this event!

In the first of its kind for Granvenhurst, a Seminar and Bridge Game fundraiser held in September 2012, raised a GRAND total of $4,369!

Laos

Laos is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. It is at least 20 years behind all the other countries of that region.

From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance on Laos during 580,000 bombing missions - equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years - making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. The bombings were part of the U.S. Secret War in Laos to support the Royal Lao Government against the Pathet Lao (Communist) and to interfere with traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The bombings destroyed many villages and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lao civilians during the nine-year period.

Steve Rutledge from Port Hope, founder of Adopt a Village in Laos, is a volunteer on the ground in Laos for four months of each year and has accomplished ALOT over the past few years: CONTINUED...

Barbara Seagram & Patti Lee visited Laos for the first time in 2012. The remote villages of Laos have never recovered from the 'Secret' war of the 1960s. Laos has the dubious distinction of being the most bombed country, per capita, in history. While rich in culture and tradition, their education, healthcare and hygiene conditions are severely lacking.

The average lifespan is only 56 years and average age is only 20.8, caused by poor quality water, poor hygiene and general poverty. BUT with your help we have already made a difference in the lives of thousands of villagers.

Steve Rutledge is a volunteer on the ground in Laos six months of the year. He is from Port Hope and has received many humanitarian awards for his work in Laos. Here are some of his accomplishments to date:

• He has supervised 6 schools construction projects, one of which included a school addition to a current school.
• He has installed 19 permanent water supplies.
• Made huge upgrades to a hospital (which services many surrounding villages) including the installation of a well and running water to each room in the hospital. Imagine a hospital with no water!
• Built over 40 banks of toilets to a village, schools and a community centre
• Installed electricity in 3 villages including solar panels in two.
• Distributed over 5700 water filters, one family at a time, serving just under 30,000 rural villagers.
• Supplies feminine hygiene pads to secondary schools, during their hygiene training programs.
• Continues to sponsor a host of secondary and university students.

There are many other projects that he is involved in: i.e. building fences around compounds to keep the water buffalo out, furnishing a huge education centre (where they train teachers), bought 52 bicycles for school kids, school supplies, provided critical funding to those who could not afford to go to the hospital and more.

Barbara & Patti's big thrust is for water filters for the villages of Laos. Each one costs $125.00 CAN
or $100.00 USD.

To receive a filter, they must take a basic hygiene & sanitation course from Steve.

When one village was asked how many people had dysentery (diarrhea) in the past year, 300 hands (all) went up. Six months later, after the water filters were installed, 2 hands went up.

View where these projects are done!

You will be able to zoom out, zoom into to each village including Sandluangnoi, right down to the structures. You will note that this is not an easy village to get to, especially in the pouring rain.in fact you cannot travel by muddy road in the rain. Also, many of the villages have pictures - By clicking on the picture, one can use the arrow on the right of the screen to see additional pictures in the village. Thanks to Beau Brennen in New Westminster, British Columbia for the endless volunteer hours he has put into this project.

Latest Laos Water Filter Fundraiser
Raises OVER $16,000.00

That is 143 water filters, providing more than one village and approximately 860 people with clean water for the first time in their lives. We are very excited about this and are so grateful to all our generous donors, some of whom attended our fundraiser on Sept 12th.

If you are interested in making a donation,
do send a cheque made out to Adopt A Village In Laos,
MAIL TO:
Barbara Seagram
220 Lawrence Ave East
Toronto ON M4N 1T2
Canada

LAOS FUNDRAISER - Thank You

Thank you one and all for your support of our Laos project. Thanks to the support of so many of you in Toronto, Collingwood and beyond, we have raised $12,093.00 to date for our water filter project in Laos at our fundraiser, June 7, 2016. Some of the cost included in the price of a water filter is the need to transport these water filters by trucks over mountainous terrain into the remote villages in Laos.

This means that we have purchased just over 94 water filters. 94 families (approximately 650 people) will now have clean water for the first time in their lives, thanks to all of you. Each family typically consists of 6-8 people, often three generations living in one small home.

Our thanks to Steve Rutledge, our guest speaker and is our amazing volunteer on the ground in Laos and Lee Daugharty for his support of this event!

The bridge community of Toronto (That's YOU!!!) has helped to raise funds over the past few years for HUNDREDS of water filters for remote villages in Laos.

To get a real sense of what goes on in a village on a daily basis, one of our volunteers, Massimo, who comes each year from Italy to help on the ground, produced this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1GQ4r19j_4 Do hope you can take the time to watch this.

Here is our volunteer on the ground, Steve Rutledge, who created Adopt A Village in Laos. This is a shot of a typical water filter distribution day where Steve is showing the villagers how the water filter works. These water filters will last at least 25 years and only need to be cleaned once a month or so by using a soft brush or cloth to clean the inside of the filter. Also in the picture is his wonderful assistant, Siphan, who is from Laos and carries on the work for Steve when he is not there.

In another video, watch Steve educating the recipients receiving a water filter:
A Hygiene Lesson Laos March 2016. (Steve speaks english in the video)

Thank You...

All monies raised (every dime) goes to the cause. There are no administration fees. All volunteers pay their own airfare, accommodation and meals.

If you would like to help, send your donation (made out to Adopt a Village in Laos) to Barbara Seagram, 220 Lawrence Ave East, Toronto ON M4N 1T2, Canada. $125.00 Can or $100.00 USD buys a water filter for a family. Thank you one and all for your support.

A very special thank you to Lee Daugharty who is not only ran the game, but also donated $3.00pp of his own towards the cause!

UPDATE: 20150212
Barbara in Laos!

UPDATE: 20140430
Thank You...

Thanks to the participants who attended our Laos Fundraiser held
on April 23, 2014. We raised $6,007 for 80 new water filters!

Also a BIG thank you to Lee Daugharty who donated $2/person!