Here at tekMountain we are fortunate enough to have an amazing break room with ten ping pong tables, ski ball, our very own brewery and even a gourmet food truck (Vittles). What a perfect venue for a charity Ping Pong Tournament!
On Thursday evening, some of Wilmington's finest table tennis players descended on tekMountain for an evening of great food, good company and friendly competition. With roughly fifty players and spectators, just over $500 was raised through ticket sales for an amazing cause, The Full Belly Project (FBP) which addresses the critical issue of poverty eradication with simple agricultural technologies. Their role is to develop and distribute agricultural devices to essentially help people help themselves. Equipment, such as the Universal Nut Sheller and the Solar Water Pump, are designed so they can be locally manufactured, operated and repaired, using readily available materials and labor. The overarching goal of Full Belly is to create self-efficacy in developing economies.
Many existing programs treat people as recipients of aid and despite the best of intentions, reinforce dependency. Full Belly wants to empower people, to not only meet their basic needs, but to allow them to take the next step by creating and selling their product to generate income. Their technology can be found in 41 countries and counting with some of our most recent work taking place right in our own backyard. As an employee of tekMountain, and a volunteer at this event, I could not be more proud to do my part to help a local charity with a global reach. tekMountain donated the venue, food and beverages, allowing nearly every dollar of proceeds from ticket sales to be donated to FBP. These funds in large part are going to bring FBP's venerable Universal Nut Sheller to Zambia next month. The sheller will benefit Zasaka, ( http://www.zasaka.com/ ) a social entrepreneurial organization based in Chipata, Zambia. This memorable evening wouldn't have been possible without the guidance of Daniel Ling, Executive Director of the FBP, Mary Brannock, and her amazing crew of volunteers. For more info please see the FBP's website: http://www.thefullbellyproject.org/Home.aspx
By: Doug Carroll, tekMountain Team Member
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