C.O.L.O.R. was sparked by the 2004 tsunami in S. Asia when we, Scott and Jennifer,\u00a0decided to go and help with the clean up and repairs. Five weeks following the tsunami we found ourselves in Sri Lanka delivering hundreds of thoughtfully packed lunch boxes full of essential and\u00a0morale building items\u00a0from children in the NW destin for children thousands of miles away in refugee camps. From there the projects and amazing people have just kept coming.<\/p>\n
Since that first trip we have built a community center, a library, several computer labs,\u00a0transformed a beach, given out\u00a0countless scholarships,\u00a0and also delivered medication, supplies, and staff training for\u00a0“untouchables” in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 C.O.L.O.R. has also expanded into other parts of Asia including: Thailand, Cambodia, China, and Indonesia.\u00a0\u00a0 We have built an orphanage for Karen children fleeing Myanmar, provided scholarships to hill tribe\u00a0girls in poor farming communities, made\u00a0crucial\u00a0upgrades to a home for handicap children, provided monthly\u00a0food supplies to several newly formed orphanages, we made a program to feed poor children within the schools as a motivate to go to school\u00a0(it worked!), we also helped fund housing construction, household supplies, and educational supplies for children, after a hurricane had devastated the community and we also\u00a0do “santa drops” of backpacks, school supplies, books, clothing,\u00a0shoes, socks, and athletic equipment into poor communities.\u00a0In the\u00a0 U.S., we host an annual picnic for Seattle area children in foster care and we\u00a0have an annual college scholarship fund for the Arts.<\/p>\n
We are a very small organization that is run by friends and funded by friends.\u00a0We strive to keep our projects small and person to person.\u00a0 Our intention with some\u00a0projects is to start useful,\u00a0and\u00a0well organized “seed\u00a0projects” that appeal not only to the communities needs, but also appeals\u00a0to larger NGO’s that then take over and grow our seed project.\u00a0 Projects like, The Egg A Day Project in Cambodia, the Girls Home in Sri Lanka, and the community center have grown and continued successfully\u00a0under other NGO’s.\u00a0 Sometimes its a matter of changing community thinking over the long term\u00a0like with the Beach Clean Up; where a beach once\u00a0used as a\u00a0garbage dump has been transformed into an attraction,\u00a0now cleaned and cared for by locals after 10 years of C.O.L.O.R. doing the work and setting a standard. Other times it’s a matter of building something so awesome it’s\u00a0worthy of modern infrastructure; we have had another NGO fund 30 miles of water main to a community center at an absorbent\u00a0cost to them\u00a0and\u00a0C.O.L.O.R. has run power over a\u00a0thirteen miles to a donated property.\u00a0 The side effect is clean water and\u00a0power to places that had none prior,\u00a0both at the end of the line and all along the way!\u00a0\u00a0We really do select projects with positive\u00a0intentions and impact. More often then not however it is the personal impacts on individuals that stand out and C.O.L.O.R. aims to follow through and repeat these successful personal projects.<\/p>\n
C.O.L.O.R. has a proven track record for creating positive impact and opportunities for youth and children and we hope to continue this path for years to come.<\/p>\n
We have a lot of fun and truly enjoy the work we do!<\/p>\n\n\t\t