One Hundred Pounds of Hope was the vision of our founder, Amanda Prak Sam. Our story is Amanda’s story, and it is best told in her own words.

In July 1979, my family and I walked for three days and nights with nothing but a small sack with clothing, a sleeping mat, a couple of blankets, a mosquito net, a shovel, a water bucket, and very little food until we reached the Thai border. Our journey through the jungle was filled with danger. We drank water with human bodies floating in it, ate food that had been long spoiled, and walked on grassy land infested with land mines and booby traps. We lived on the land for three months before we were moved to a refugee camp.

Years later, I got my second chance at living a good life in a new country and for this I am eternally grateful. But I am continually reminded of the sufferings of the Cambodian people who lack the simple things I now take for granted: food, shelter, clothing, clean water, schools, and medicine. Knowing myself what it is like to be scared and hungry, I have a strong passion to give back.

In April 2006, my husband and I made our first emergency relief mission to Cambodia with $1,700 in donations from family and friends and with this we bought locally produced rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, and noodles to help 110 families. You cannot imagine the gratitude we received from the Cambodian poor, elderly, children and handicapped who accepted our help. We knew that we had to return and do more. The next year we were able to raise $3,800 and help even more families.

From these first experiences, we learned what we could accomplish in a short time period with limited resources. Did you know that a 100 pound sack of rice can sustain a family of four for a month? Engaging our friends with compassion and know-how, we established a non-profit corporation so that we could develop our support of the Cambodian poor into a sustainable program. We have future plans to help poor Cambodians become self-sufficient. We accomplished much already, but this is only the beginning of our story. With your help, One Hundred Pounds of Hope will bring aid and inspiration to many more of those in dire need of our help.

Amanda's full story