FAQs

Presently, Genevieve’s Fair Trade Village (GFTV) handles the operations of SRFB.  GFTV is a not-for-profit, social enterprise focused on assisting persons with disabilities.  GFTV is registered with the Corporations Branch of Cambodia, as a sole-proprietorship owned by Naret Chhoy. 

The plan is to register SRFB as a separate NGO.  It will be governed by a volunteer Board of Directors acting on behalf of the community.

The SRFB will help any family that is genuinely in need of food support, whether their situation is temporary or long term, providing there are funds available.  We rely on needs assessments by SRFB staff or partnering NGO’s to determine the need and to decide who qualifies to receive assistance.  SRFB provides food support directly to families and indirectly to families through our community partners.

This depends on their need, but normally we deliver to qualified families once a month. 

For families that SRFB delivers directly to, we guarantee 6 monthly deliveries for families with long term needs and then review their case at the end of 6 months. Families with shorter-term needs will receive food packs monthly for the time they need help. 

For families, we support through our community partners they may have different arrangements depending on the community partner’s program set-up.

The basic items in the food packs are: rice, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, eggs, noodles, hand soap, cooking oil, canned or dried fish and, if available, disposable masks. 

The amount of each item in the food pack depends on family size – larger families get more than small families. The items in the food pack are constantly being reviewed to ensure families are receiving items they can use, in adequate quantities. 

 The value of a food pack for a family of four (4) is about $35 (USD) retail or 140,000 KHR.

The honest answer is that you can’t know with 100% certainty unless you can literally follow your money to the end beneficiary, or have someone do that for you.  However, we post regular updates and photos of our fundraising and distribution activities on our website, social media sites (Facebook, Instagram) and in our monthly newsletter.

GFTV has been operating as a social enterprise in Siem Reap since 2015. We have strong relationships with other community organisations and our accounting is up-to-date and open to inspection upon request. 

There are many things a responsible donor can do to help them feel confident that they are giving wisely. 

Step 1 – Avoiding scams. Even the most sophisticated scams are detectable with some due diligence. Here are a couple of articles to get you started:

• AARP – https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/charity.html
• SELF – https://www.self.com/story/how-to-make-sure-your-charitable-giving-is-going-to-the-right-place

Step 2 – If you determine the fundraising enterprise or individual is legitimate, you then want to determine if they will use your money for the stated purpose and in an efficient and effective manner.

• Overheads – Looking at the ratio of funds that go directly to benefit the target group and how much overhead is a good place to start. Somewhere between 15% – 25% is a good indicator.
• Online information – The more information an organisation has online about what they do, how they do it, who they are helping and who they partner with, the more likely they are credible.
• References – Nothing beats having someone you know telling you that it is safe and worthwhile giving to a particular fundraising campaign. Often this is not possible but it is possible to solicit references. For example, finding a community-wide Facebook group where members are located in the area that the organisation operates will give you the opportunity to ask members to private message you information about the organisation raising funds. In Siem Reap two such groups are: Siem Reap Expats & Locals and Siem Reap NGO’s & Volunteers