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A U.S. couple is donating $6,000
to an Ulaanbaatur soup kitchen and a Mongolian education center.
Steve and Tina Swift of Waterville,
Maine, operate a wholesale jewelry manufacturer and distribute to some
1,000 jewelry stores. After recently reading about hunger in Mongolia,
the couple decided to send a check the Lotus Centre, an educational
center, and the Dolma Living Community Centre. Both are located in Ulaanbaatur.
"We don't live alone and
we're not supposed to," Tina Swift recently told the Kennebeck
Journal. "We're human beings and human beings need each other."
"There's no safety net
there, but for children in America, there is," Tina Swift said.
"We felt that, as global citizens, we all have to be aware and
we all have to look out for each other."
Steve Swift said his donation
will purchase food for as many as 2,500 children a month at the soup
kitchen. Each meal costs only about 20 cents.
"When I figured that out,
I said, 'How could you not do it?'" he said.
The donation was made by Swift
to an American Bhuddhist organization which runs charitable projects
in Mongolia.
"We're a Buddhist organization,
so obviously we collect a lot of donations from the Buddhist community
in general, but the way the Swifts found us was through a collection
of writings by George Crane," Chuck Latimer, the organization's
development director said. "So, we're also in a position of looking
to reach out into more secular areas because many of our projects provide
services to the general population of Mongolia. It's always wonderful
when somebody comes in from outside the Buddhist community because it's
like brand-new blood into an organization. I really appreciate all (the
Swifts) are doing. It's really amazing."
Additionally, the Swifts now
include information cards about helping in Mongolia inside all jewelry
they ship.
"Hopefully, our giving
will be the impetus for someone else to do the same," Tina Swift
said.
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