Welcome to the 100 Friends Project!

I am Marc Gold and I started this small project 18 years ago, in 1989. The idea is very simple. Every year many people contribute to the project and I take the money to Third World Countries and look for the neediest people I can find. I then put the money to work in the most compassionate, appropriate, culturally compatible, constructive and practical manner possible. You put the donation into my hands and I put the funds directly into the hands of the needy individual or family, or a small trusted grassroots organization helping them.

Who do we help?

100 Friends has been able to provide assistance to thousands of needy people in many countries. I have now completed twelve humanitarian missions and dispensed over $150,000 directly into the hands of needy people all over the world. I try to find people who are not being assisted by anyone else. I make sure that the person needing the help really receives it. You put it in my hands and I put it in their hands. And I report the results back to you and answer any questions you may have about the process. The 100 Friends Project is a 501(c) 3 tax-deductible charity organization. At least 85% of the funds go directly into the hands of needy individuals (especially women and children) and small grassroots organizations for medical, educational, vocational, emergency assistance and other expenses. Sometimes we follow-up with donations after an initial grant and sometimes grants are given on a one-time basis. For an extensive list of the many ways that 100 Friends puts the money to work, click here.

How did it start?

The project began in 1989, when I (Marc Gold) visited India for the first time. I began thinking about going there to help people in 1956 when I was 7 years old, under the influence of my father, Albert Gold. When I finally got to India, I met a Tibetan woman in the Himalayas who had terrible ear infections, and I was able save her life with antibiotics that cost about $1.00. For another $30 I purchased a hearing aid that restored her hearing. I was shocked to learn that something so important could be accomplished with so little.
I began raising money among my friends, whatever they could give, as little as $1 or as much as people were able to donate. Then, in 1992, I traveled to India with over $2,200 in donations, with the goal of distributing it as directly and intelligently as possible. The rest, as they say, is history. Funds have been donated in India, Thailand, Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Indonesia, Palestinean Territories, Iraq, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan, China, Angola, Laos, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, Mozambique and Turkey.

Site designed by Mariella Krause, © 2003