Thai food fundraiser Saturday for orphanage in Thailand

A Greybull woman is planning to sell Thai food Saturday, March 15 to raise money for the Baan Eurphon Orphanage in Thailand, a cause that’s near and dear to her heart.

The fundraiser at the Los Gabanes Events Center, 522 Greybull Avenue, will start at 5 p.m. and end when the food is gone.  There will be no set price, as it’s donations only.

Vicky Rosser said this will be the third time she has offered Thai food to the community.  

The orphanage is run by a couple who just started taking in kids because there were no government-sponsored orphanages in their province or in the neighboring province.

“(They) live on site and it’s more like a big family,” said Rosser. “They have a thrift store and bakery, but it is not enough to support all 80 people that live there.

“They also take in adults with disabilities or women that are victims of domestic violence (with or without kids).”

Because the orphanage receives zero government funding, Vicky and others have frequently stepped up to help.  Vicky used some of the settlement from a May 9, 2019, head-on collision — in which she and two visiting friends from Thailand, Lek and Komsan — were injured to purchase land for the orphanage.

“We needed to separate the older boys from the older girls because that is an international problem,” Rosser said, explaining the rationale behind the land purchase. 

“Monte and Lek and Koksan also help financially. Lek found the land. I bought it and Monte paid for the title/deed.”

The orphanage’s needs include batteries for solar panels, food for a horse they have for equine therapy and supplies and ingredients for a coffee shop and bakery they have on site to make money. A large vegetable garden is also in the works, but money is needed to buy seeds.

Rosser said she visits the orphanage about three times a year and writes grants and fundraises before she goes.  

She’s preparing a four-minute video set to music with pictures of the orphanage that she hopes to present on a couple of Chromebooks at Saturday’s event.