“I created CAFFE because I believe the foundation’s modest goals are extremely important and worthy of wide support.
It’s only a fraction of what I feel I owe my people.”
Two dollars a day may be a small amount of money, but for Marshall Kim, it is a huge inspiration. With this tiny sum, Kim can offer children in his homeland the kind of education his own son and daughter might receive here in America. Two dollars a day can afford a young Cambodian student opportunities in nursing, teaching, banking, marketing, financing, accounting, law and business management.
In 1979, Mr. Kim survived the Killing Fields and escaped from the Khmer Rouge. At 20, after three years in a Thai refugee camp, he came to the United States to begin a new life. He's styled hair here for over 33 years and by 1990 he'd established his own hair salon. Mr. Kim became a U.S. citizen in 1992.
Mr. Kim and his wife live in a modest apartment in Scarsdale, New York. Their son, Michael, graduated from Emory University, and their daughter, Kelly, currently attends Harvard College. You can read more about his life in this New York Times article.
““I believe very strongly in education and I can’t bear to hear the words ‘too late’. Helping one innocent young girl could amount to helping a hundred more. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. These children are victims of others’ wrongdoing. Their circumstances are not their fault. Their need is greater than I can afford on my own, so I must ask you for help. Please. In Cambodia, a small amount makes a huge difference.””