A little over a year since it launched, the Michael Parker Foundation (MPF) has celebrated the launch of a new website by providing additional funding to a project in remote Nepal.
The non-profit, which was set up to honour the life of Australian mountaineer Michael ‘Mick’ Parker, has partnered with World Expeditions Foundation (WEF) to direct funds to projects focused on improving the lives and education of young people in remote Himalayan communities.
Members of the foundation’s board gathered over the weekend to present WEF with a cheque for $12,000.
“Mick always had a soft spot for the local people he would meet on each one of his expeditions,” said the director of MPF and Michael’s father, Bruce Parker. “In particular, he sought to improve the quality of education that the young people in many of these communities were receiving, and he had told me that’s what he wanted to do prior to his passing.”
“In providing these funds to WEF, we’re able to ensure that Australians are able to contribute directly to enriching the lives of those young people that most need it.”
Parker and other foundation members at MPF all highlight the non-profit as being unique in that they manage to avoid all administration fees wherever possible, relying on the charity of its members to provide their time and expertise.
As a result, donors to MPF are assured that the maximum amount of their dollar is passed on to the people who need it most. The foundation states 100 percent of funds go towards the education of disadvantaged children in remote Himalayan communities.
“It’s very serendipitous that we found a contact with WEF in Ian Williams, who has been very helpful in helping Mick’s vision become a reality,” Parker said during a brief speech. “I don’t think any other organisation would have been able to achieve what they have without it costing a lot of money.”
To date, MPF has contributed over $50,000 towards building dormitories for a school in Suspa Kshamawati, northeastern Nepal. The latest donation is expected to see the completion of the girls’ wing of the dormitory completed, before work begins on the boys’.
All up, the WEF expects the Kshamawati dormitory project to cost around $250,000 to complete.
Presentations were also made to website designer, Joel Robertson for his work on the MPF website, and Wild editor, Campbell Phillips for the magazine’s role as media partner.
Learn more about Mick Parker and the work of MPF via the foundation’s new website. For information regarding other projects such as the earthquake disaster relief, visit WEF’s website.