Glenn Family Foundation - My family foundation is a non-profit driven organisation

“ To give hope where there is despair; To teach the hungry to feed themselves; To educate those that wish to learn;"
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Most kids would take the shoes which they wear on their feet for granted. They put them on, tie up the laces and run around all day without a little thought that they are lucky. They are children, so we wouldn’t expect them to understand that there are millions of other little children all over the world that can’t afford a pair of shoes. Millions of children who work in hazardous environments without proper protective gear, who walk miles and miles to get to school in bare feet, who dream of being soccer stars but don’t have the shoes to practice in.

In March 2005, Owen and his close friends visited the village of Anandapally on the outskirts of Kolkata marking his first visit to India in over 54 years. Anandapally is part of the arch Diocese of Baruipur and is run by Sister Cynthia and the Carmelite nuns who are heavily involved in the general welfare of the villagers.

Caught in a vicious circle of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and born into large families, many children are made to work as domestic servants in shops, restaurants and hotels. Numerous children go to bed with half empty stomachs, soiled hands and bruised backs too tired to dream. In many cases they are tortured mentally, physically and sexually.

The Cluny Women's College was established in 1998 and is run by Sr. M. Declan Fahy of Ireland. The mission of the College is to impart higher education for girls in the region of Kalimpong, India.

AIDS has become a wide spread disease in the Darjeeling District and it sad to say that historically there were no homes or hospice to take care of the terminally ill patients. As provincial of the Cluny’s, Sr. Teresa Rai saw the need for a HIV/AIDS Hospice Centre in Kalimpong.

Hayden Hall was established as a non-profit relief and development association some 50 years ago by the Canadian Jesuits in Darjeeling to take care of the very poor. This is achieved through their health programs, housing and income generating projects and with the assistance of their credit union. Hayden Hall focuses on love and service as a medium to educate those on human development.

The headquarters for GFF and location of some of GFF’s “Model Village Project” work is in an Indian town called “Kalimpong”.

This Government Primary School is located some 22 kilometers from Kalimpong and caters to some 40 students. The school building was in a sorry state of repair and the approach road left much to be desired.

Nanette’s Vocational Training Centre is situated in a nest of shops in the heart of the Darjeeling market. The brainchild of Sr. Marcella Baidya of the Cluny Sisters, the Centre’s activities include tailoring, cooking, typing and other similar life skills.

Owen and his older brother, Michael were altar boys at the Church of Christ the King, Park Circus, Calcutta during their childhood. In offering to help his old Parish, GFF donated INR 570,000.00 for the construction of a new community centre and church in Calcutta, where many of the Parishioners and families had moved.

Jimmy first encountered Saom Tshering Namchu in 2004 through an introduction and was immediately impressed at his vigor, dedication to Rotary and his personal sponsorship of Medical Camps. Together with his fellow Rotarians he would collect a team of private and Government Doctors and paramedics (mostly volunteers) and provide them with food and lodging and also with transport to enable them to visit remote areas of Darjeeling District. Treatment was meted out with free medicines and advice given on hygiene and nutrition. The very sick were directed to the Government hospitals for further treatment.

Mungpoo, in Darjeeling District, was in much need of an English Secondary School as a feeder from the 17 Nepali primary schools in the area. Father van Wallenghem S.J., a well known and loved educator of the renowned St. Joseph’s School and College in Darjeeling, took on the task with the backing of his school's alumni. He was sold the idea of a unique school building built of bamboo. Large funding was required for the expansion, especially on vocational education of bee keeping, bioorganic farming and mushroom growing.

Glenn Family Foundation contributed INR 235,000.00 for a library at St. Michael's Convent and High School in Darjeeling, which caters to young students of the North Point area.

Attached to St. Philomena’s High School is St. Anne’s Hostel which houses 320 young girls from distant villages and various ethnic tribes who receive subsidized schooling.

St John’s Church caters to a small congregation on St Mary’s Hill, Kurseong. Jimmy Keir was baptized there at the age of 10. Through him, GFF sent INR 110,000.00 in 2006 for the restoration of the Church and subsequently funds to repair a retaining wall and windows.

This High School, run by the Cluny Sisters and catering to poorer families, teaches some 2000 girls. Most students are day scholars however approximately 320 of the students are housed at St. Anne’s Hostel.

Attached to St. John’s Parish, Sweet Angel School was first established in 1997 by Mrs. Angela Mala Chettri in a 10” x 10” mud and stone room with 3 poor children. With the growing needs of the children unable to be sustained in such confined quarters, Sweet Angel School moved to rented premises with three rooms and 2 toilets.

GFF maintains a small effective staff based in Kalimpong, Darjeeling District, North East India, headed by SAOM TSHERING NAMCHU, GFF Manager, India. Team members have been carefully selected for their integrity, leadership and communicative skills especially at the village level.

Introduced by Suze Glenn to her father Owen, VHCP was sponsored by the Salvation Army, collecting run away and stray children begging and living around the platforms of Howrah Station. Many of these children did not have a square meal, were subjected to substance and alcohol abuse and ill-treated by the police.

A unique school, built entirely of treated bamboo, was constructed in Mungpoo Plantation, Darjeeling District. This was a popular school as the medium of teaching was English, the only one in the area.

The Lepchas or Rongs are the indigenous people of Darjeeling District and Sikkim in North East India. They are akin to their Tibetan and Bhutanese cousins of Mongolian origins. A gentle race of nature worshipers their numbers have been diluted with the influx of Nepalese and Indians brought in to work in the tea gardens. Most of the Lecphas have been converted to Buddhism, Hinduism or Christianity.

The Indian Ministry of Labour and Employment reports in their census of 2001 that nearly 13 million children are working as child labourers in India and that over 800,000 of those children are engaged in child labour activities in the West Bengel region alone. It is widely believed that that this figure is dramatically understated and that in reality there it is closer to 30 million.

Following the development of the first Model Village in Lower Chibbo, Owen Glenn visited the region in February 2008 to see the progress. During this visit it was noted that a community hall and playground were needed. Owen confirmed that the Glenn Family Foundation would be prepared to donate the funds required to build the hall on the basis that the villagers secured the donation of the land on which the hall could be built. He also indicated that GFF would fund 50% of the playground if the villagers built it themselves and secured the donation of the land.

In mid 2007, GFF set about the all-important task of Village Development. Lower Chibbo was chosen as the first Model Village and the geography students of the Cluny Womens’ College undertook a comprehensive survey of 60 families with a population of 364. They covered area, population recording sex and age, number of households, family size, educational history, mode of employment, health statistics, major crops, animals and sanitation.

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