Memorial Fund for Tom Karen's Family. 

Founder of the Tom Karen Center, Thailand

Campaign Progress:

(Updated: May 8th, 2016)

Recurring Donations: $187 / $300  (62% Funded)

Additional One-Time Donations: $1,683 / $5,000 (33% Funded)

Fundraising Note: By running an independent campaign, we'll save up to 7.9% in fees charged by fundraising sites, allowing Tom's family to receive all of these funds.

Please Donate Today:

(Updated: May 8th, 2016)

Make a $5 Monthly Donation

Make a $10 Monthly Donation

Make a $15 Monthly Donation

Make a Custom Donation

Monthly donations are the most needed. PayPal account required for monthly donations, custom donations do not require an account.

TOM'S FAMILY NEEDS YOUR HELP:

We are friends of Sakkawan Sommuang, known to many of his friends as "Tom Karen," founder of  Tom Karen's Center.

After a sudden and intense battle with liver cancer, Tom passed away on December 28th, surrounded by loved ones. His final moments were comfortable ones. He leaves behind a wonderful wife, Mod, and three children - Cherry, Guitar and Mini.

Tom's family now needs your help. Through his work as a tour guide, teacher, and educator, Tom provided almost all of his family's income, and supported his small afterschool center that served the needs of many dozens of children in the Baan Huaisak rural village where he lived.

We spent time with Tom in his last week and he made this request of us - Tom wanted to know that his family would be taken care of after he passed away.

OUR GOAL: They only need 7,000 Thai Baht a month (approximately $225 USD at average exchange rates) to support his wife Mod, and provide for his 2 youngest daughters still living at home - Mini and Guitar - and we are aiming for at least $300/month to help meet unexpected needs and inflation.  

Special Thanks to Our Generous Supporters:

How You Can Help:

Recurring Donations: Most needed are recurring monthly donations, that could be committed to for a period of at least 8 years. We need to keep the funds going for until at least 2024 (when his youngest daughter finished high school) so a commitment until then would be most helpful.

One-Time Donations: If you're unable to commit to a monthly donation, one-time donations would help make a tremendous impact. These will cover the basic needs of the family, and provide an ongoing secondary fund to expand the work of Tom Karen's Center.

Love and Support of the Family: There are currently friends and loved ones writing cards, sending prayers, and offering messages of support. Any gesture would mean a lot to the family, so feel free to message us if you wanted to do something unique. 

Help Fundraising: This would be SO helpful.  Please help us leverage your network to support this cause. Friends, family, co-workers - anyone you can share this with will increase the effectiveness of the campaign.

How this Money Will be Used:
It is our aim to raise enough money to support Tom's family with the supplemental income his family needs until his youngest daughter Mini has reached college. This is $300 per month, for 8 years, with some additional room for inflation adjustment. Any funds raised above that will be saved into a secondary fund to help with unexpected expenses or extend the life of the support.

Fiscal Oversight: The funds will be collected and overseen by Rabbi Jamie Cowland - founder of Justifi and a friend of Tom who helped plan, fund, and grow Tom Karen's Center since its inception and have helped to coordinate bringing hundreds of volunteers and much of the funding through their Justifi project and its alumni network.