Kevin Babington and Thunderbird Adopt JustWorld International ProjectsKevin Babington and Thunderbird Adopt JustWorld International ProjectsKevin Babington and Thunderbird Adopt JustWorld International Projects

Wellington, Florida — JustWorld International’s newest initiative, the ‘Adopt a Project’ campaign, is continuing to gain momentum with Irish Olympian Kevin Babington and Canada’s Thunderbird Show Park each adopting projects.  JustWorld International is a not-for-profit humanitarian organization, which works as a catalyst for positive change in the developing world by helping impoverished children.Officially launched on June 4, the ‘Adopt a Project’ campaign is aimed at making it even easier for supporters to get involved and choose exactly which programs they would like their donations to fund.  The ‘Adopt a Project’ campaign identifies opportunities to support specific education, nutrition, health and hygiene, and leadership and cultural development programs.  Donors can ‘adopt’ specific programs at JustWorld’s project sites in Brazil, Cambodia, Guatemala, and Honduras.  The new campaign is a great opportunity for individuals, groups and businesses to get involved and help to provide critical operational support to JustWorld International.JustWorld Rider Ambassador Kevin Babington found an ideal way to raise funds to ‘adopt’ his selected project.  The Irish Olympian held a riding clinic for 20 participants from May 15 to 17 at El Cortijo Equestrian Club in Guatemala, a facility owned by fellow JustWorld Rider Ambassador and Olympian Juan Andres Rodriguez and his family.  Afterwards, the entire group traveled to see the work being done first-hand at Babington’s ‘adopted’ project site, Los Patojos, whose medical clinic benefitted from the proceeds. 

“I feel a clinic is a great way to bring Ambassadors and non-Ambassadors together for a fun event and to help raise awareness of JustWorld’s achievements and goals,” said Babington, who is one of JustWorld’s original Rider Ambassadors.  “I’m very fortunate to have had years of experience in the sport of show jumping, and giving a clinic to help such a great organization is a nice way to give back.”

For the management team at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, Canada, the decision to ‘Adopt a Project’ was an easy one.“JustWorld does an amazing job of connecting the equestrian community to the projects,” said Jane Tidball, President of Thunderbird Show Park.  “It’s about more than simply raising money; it’s about seeing a difference, changing communities and truly paying it forward.”The Thunderbird team ‘adopted’ JustWorld's Family Rice Program in Cambodia, which distributes rice allotments to families with children attending classes at the PIO School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Each child’s family receives 5 kg of rice each month, helping reduce the need for those children to gather food scraps or to earn money by picking through trash in the nearby garbage dump. Thunderbird has also recently ‘adopted’ a second initiative, the PIO School Nurse Program in Cambodia, which gives children attending the PIO School access to a school nurse who monitors students for common ailments and tends to them in the case of severe illness.The team at Thunderbird raises the funds to ‘adopt’ the projects through a number of fun events held in conjunction with their summer show series each year.“The different events make it possible for many of our staff, competitors and visitors to participate and learn about JustWorld,” explained Tidball.  “The JustWorld Horseless Hose Show is always popular with our younger riders, giving them an opportunity to leave their mounts in the barn and take on the jumps themselves, just for fun.“She continued, “Our best event, by far, was last year’s Family Extravaganza.  A total of 29 teams rode in the fundraiser including huntsmen and jumper riders, cowboys and ASPCA medal winners, fathers, daughters, mothers and sons.  They all took on the task of showing their best, while bribing the judges with donations for JustWorld!”The Family Extravaganza returns this year, and will take place on August 25 during Thunderbird’s Summer Fort Festival.  In addition, the West Coast Classic from June 27 to July 1 and the Western Family from July 4 to 8 will both feature a Tug-o-War, a Horseless Horse Show and a hot dog sale, all to benefit JustWorld International.  On August 17, a silent auction and Horseless Horse Show will be held in conjunction with the $50,000 Dianne Tidball Legacy Grand Prix benefitting JustWorld.The ‘Adopt a Project’ campaign offers a number of different initiatives across JustWorld’s project sites.  All are focused on enhancing and increasing JustWorld’s work in the areas of education, health, nutrition, and leadership and cultural development.Examples of projects available for adoption include the PIO Snack Program, which helps provide daily snacks for a year to the school children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for $20,000 US per year or $30 per child; The Sports Program, which helps provide more than 150 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Honduras access to organized sports as a way to develop leadership, teamwork, discipline and self-esteem for $12,000 US or $80 per child, or the Los Patojos School Supplies Program, which provides school supplies and textbooks to students in Jocotenango, Guatemala for $8,000 US or $46 per child.To ‘Adopt a Project’, please click on the following link, https://www.justworldinternational.org/adopt-a-project/.  Canadian, French and American donations are all tax deductible.