ABDF

Marc Levine of Marin County, California, fresh from working for the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania, has been chosen by the American-Batticaloa Development Fund to serve as the new Executive Director of this dynamic start-up non-profit. ABDF.org is excited to have Marc join and help the organization grow.

ABDF.org’s focus is identifying micro projects to benefit the people of the tsunami- and conflict-ravaged region of Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka. In 2008, our first full year of operation, we raised about $15,000 and completed 8 projects. Those included installing a hand-pump well to provide a family with clean drinking water, completing the electrification of a small village and providing books and supplies for an English language lab in a girls school.

With Marc’s leadership we look forward to solidifying ABDF.org’s mission and strategy, increasing awareness about the fund, and boosting our donations to a new level in 2009. “Marc is an innovative political organizer and his prior work launching social enterprise initiatives on a global scale, including Sri Lanka, means he is well-prepared to lead ABDF.org into the future,” said Bennett Hinkley, founder of ABDF.org.

You can help today by donating directly to a specific project on our website at the Projects page (using the appropriate Google Checkout button) or you can donate to the general fund. $25, $15 even $5 can make a huge difference when you consider that a hand-pump well costs less than $100 and all ABDF.org projects cost no more than $1,500.

If you can’t afford to donate now, you can afford to tell all of your friends about The American-Batticaloa Development Fund. With your help and Marc’s, we look forward to a great 2009.