Jul 27, 2020 at 05:28 am

Happy Food update. Goal reached

Update posted by Ole Norheim

Happy Food was lovingly hatched 1st April 2020 with a simple intention: To provide basic food-security on Koh Phangan during Covid.

We gave ourselves the challenging goal of doing that for three months. We’ve ended up raising enough to provide basic food-security for 6 months - all thanks to your ongoing donations, support, and volunteer efforts.

After 4 months of intense activity, we're now moving into Happy Food’s next phase. We have been allowed to operate with the kind support of local authorities and partners in response to the critical situation. In respect of local politics and culture, it's now time for Happy Food to end our fundraising and pass the rice the remaining funds will provide along to local Thai and Myanmar leaders for them to distribute to the people in need. This was the long-term goal of the project: for it to transition to being run by locals.

We’ve faced wonderful challenges in fundraising, logistics, cultural differences, scaling to over 100 volunteers, language barriers, and many more. It’s been an amazing and inspiring movement to be a part of and it's been a great source of motivation to see this island rally around Happy Food and work together to support all people in our community.

Over the past few months, we received donations via Gogetfunding and TransferWise, cash donations by hand from families, friends, and people on the island, through donation boxes in more than 50 Koh Phangan restaurants as well as beautiful fundraising events and direct donations of food and non-food items.

With these kind donations, Happy Food has already distributed 55,000 kilos of rice, tens of thousands of eggs and canned sardines, tons of vegetables, thousands liters of cooking oil, toys, mosquito nets, menstrual pads and thousands of cooked meals.

In the coming weeks, we will provide an additional 50.000 kg of rice. In total, we will reach more than 500.000 meals distributed. I will continue to post photos of receipts and rice being distributed as it happens.

We have built very close cooperation with the Burmese and Thai community leaders on Koh Phangan and I would love to facilitate contact between them and anyone who wants to continue supporting the migrant workers directly with food or other items on the island.

I give a humongous thank you and a big hug to every single person who has contributed to this wonderful project.

My biggest lesson is that when we come together as a community, we can do impossible and wonderful things.

Happy Food is living proof of that and our intention is to continue to offer our support on Koh Phangan in any way we can.

May all beings be fed, may all beings be safe, may all beings be Happy:)



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