Friendship, Jamaica · Cincinnati, Ohio
The Foundation was created from Melbourne Folkes’ influence and his grandson Michael’s vision. It works in two places at once: the primary school in the Jamaican village where Michael grew up, and the city in Ohio where he built his life.
Four initiatives, one purpose
We work on the things that stop a child from learning — school fees, hunger, poor health, nowhere to gather. Each initiative removes one of them.
Tuition, books and technology for deserving students at Mount Waddy Primary School — and the teachers who guide them.
$564 one student’s year
Health fairs bringing doctors, dentists and nurses to children who would otherwise go unseen.
95 seen so far
A multi-purpose hall for physical education, health fairs, graduations and the arts.
Fundraising
A community farm that feeds the village and funds the Foundation’s other work.
Phase one
The boy from Friendship who came back
Michael A. Folkes was handed to his grandparents at four, went hungry at fifteen, and built a logistics company at twenty-nine. The Foundation carries his grandfather’s name — and returns to the primary school he attended.
Michael A. Folkes, in his own words
What your support has built
Irran Brown, Student, Mount Waddy Primary School
Every amount is the real cost of a real thing
Nothing here is a suggested figure. These are the prices the school pays, and a gift covers the item outright.
Eight are needed — $280 covers every classroom.
Replaces a surface the teachers currently work around.
Turns any room at Mount Waddy into a teaching room.
Fees, books and lunch for a child for a full year.
Mighty in Character
Everything the Foundation does rests on seven characteristics: truth, faith, courage, kindness, gratitude, humility and courtesy. We teach them, and we look for them.
Michael A. Folkes
“In short, Patchy IS ‘Mighty In Character.’ Neither proud nor ashamed, he is a little boy, blessed beyond his wildest dreams, who chooses always to view his cup as half full instead of half empty.”
Fund a child’s school year at $564, a classroom fan at $35, or a full classroom kit at $3,260.
Medical, educational, building and training skills are all needed.
Seven days in Jamaica providing care that changes lives — including your own.
Driven by Desperation
Michael’s memoir of the childhood behind the Foundation. Ninety per cent of every sale is donated to the work in Friendship and Cincinnati.
