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MAP charters new territory
Local philanthropic group raising tens of thousands for children near and far

by Jennifer Pence

Even in a weak economy, it's amazing how much money a determined group of people can raise for a good cause.

It all began in 2005 with five local mothers who were "passionate about the life of every child born to the human race." These mothers, three of whom have children who were adopted from orphanages in Iran, wanted to make a difference in the lives of children, particularly orphans and foster children in the Bay Area and abroad.

Founding member Touria Javid Mobin of Palo Alto explains, "Many of us had seen firsthand the orphanages in other countries and wanted to do something to reduce the terrible poverty that exists there."

Last year, the group received 501(c)3 status under the name Moms Against Poverty and began fundraising in earnest. While MAP eventually aspires to do its own projects, the members agree that first they should focus their efforts on fundraising for existing child-focused nonprofits.

"We have spent the past year building bridges with existing groups such as Child Advocates of Silicon Valley," Mountain View resident and MAP member Haleh Merat explains. Mobin adds, "We need to work with other groups to further understand the problems they are addressing and to learn how to build an organization."

MAP's first project was to raise money for an orphanage in Cambodia called Azizah's Place by soliciting corporate donations. They succeeded in raising $10,000. Now MAP is working on an ambitious fundraiser that will take place on Nov. 1. Amazingly, the new group has already sold out the 400 tickets for the event and is well on its way to its goal of raising $50,000 to $60,000 through the event.

Because MAP has secured donations of food, paper goods and silent auction items for the event, 95 percent of the revenue will go straight to projects that benefit children. Of this money, half will be retained by MAP to be allocated to future projects, and half will immediately go to Child Advocates, a group that trains volunteers to serve as advocates for foster children in Santa Clara County. These court-appointed advocates provide continuity as the children are often shuffled from one home to another; serve as liaisons with the foster parents, biological parents, teachers, and other authority figures; and make quarterly reports to the court.

For the foreseeable future, MAP plans to remain an all-volunteer organization. Fortunately, the five core members bring expertise from the for-profit realm in areas such as finance, public relations and advertising, as well as their substantial network of friends who support their events.

"For us, the hard part is deciding which projects to do, because there is just so much need," explains Mobin. "The fundraising part comes to us much more easily."

While MAP members are excited about the positive response to the fundraiser, they want to do even more. After all, Child Advocates currently has a backlog of over 300 children waiting to receive an advocate, and there are many more groups that MAP hopes to assist in the future, such as Pennies for Peace and the Child's Foundation.

You can make a donation online at MomsAgainstPoverty.org or directly to Child Advocates at CAdvocates.org. Additionally, MAP is always looking for groups to present to in order to raise awareness about the challenges marginalized children face domestically and internationally. To schedule a presentation for your group, see the "contact us" page of their Web site.

Jennifer Pence's column appears monthly in the InBusiness section of the Voice. A Mountain View resident, she is founder of the Windmill Giving Circle and founder and owner of Academic Springboard, a tutoring group. She can be reached at japence@hotmail.com.