Cambodian Street Kids

Sounds nice - but what happens after they put on the t-shirt and eat the pizza? Back to the streets? If you are serious you might want to talk to organisations who work with homeless children, see what they really need.  Google has a list.

I give to a few homeless or less fortunate children by the riverside selling things , yes all those expats that say don’t give the kids anything it encourages them to beg, well my opinion is they are not out there begging because they want to even if mom sends them out to beg hopefully some goes to feed the children, they are begging simply because they have to these NGOs and charity organizations are usually bogus, and there overhead cost are outrageous, so I just give it straight to them , over the years I’ve picked a few to give to I even send one girl to English school , for three years now, I’m a non believer in most charities, I choose my own , even if I’m wrong sometimes I feel I have a better track record that most charitable organizations in cambodia

Yes I get your point about NGOs, especially the ones with big expat salaries. But my concern is that the beggars are often organized by street gangs who drop the kids off and pick them up later, take the money and give the kids a small fee. But your idea of sponsoring a child to school is excellent,  and if there are more ways of getting direct benefits to kids in need then that would be a good answer.  In the end we just do what we can, we can't eradicate poverty (sorry Bob Geldof) but we can try a little.

Hello, here my 2 cents (100 Riel).

First don't give locations where street kids can be found, they are not toys and the wrong people could be attracted to those locations, with very wrong intentions.

Totally agree with not giving money to NGO's they are just caring about their villa office and their fancy cars.
If you want to donate money find a reliable orphanage, visit them a couple of times so as to know they are not money-making traps (the tourist orphanages that return the bags of rice that tourists donated).
If you have found an honest orphanage, feel free to donate or buy things they need, talk to the management and find out what they need most.

Personally, like Twinsguy, I take care of 4 street kids, at the place where they roam the streets (near a market in my area), their mothers drag carts around as they collect plastic bottles, carton and metal cans. I know the mothers well and sometimes also buy food for them.
I buy food (fried chicken) from a stall near the market and the kids eat it there. I sometimes buy soy milk in the supermarket, the one with high calcium for bones, teeth and nails.

It's all under control, no gangs but poor families of which those 4 kids can rely on me for a meal a day. I do this the whole year through, not just one day.

Cheers.

Joe