New York City, New York Nov 11, 2019 (Issuewire.com) - Some people believe that charities create good karma in the world. That is what one penny stock trader and philanthropist named Timothy Sykes wanted to do with his 501c3 charity foundation, The Timothy Sykes Foundation.
After partnering with Filipino photographer Mattheau Abad, the two decided to change the name of the charity to Karmagawa. In the Filipino Tagalog language, the word “gawa” means “to do” or “to make.” When you put “gawa” together with “karma,” it means “to do or make karma.” This is what Sykes and Abad want their Karmagawa charitable foundation to do for people in the world.
While growing up in the slums of the Philippines, Abad dreamed of two things. His first dream was to become a wealthy and successful international photographer. His second dream was to give back to the world and raise awareness of important issues, such as lack of quality schools in impoverished countries.
“We built Karmagawa because we wanted to start this community,” Abad said. “That's why we want to bring out really good influencers, and we want to encourage their followers. Instead of going out to these beautiful places and taking photos of their food, they’re actually putting substance on their travel. Like helping out local charities and helping build schools.”
So far, the charity has built 57 schools, but their objective is to build over 1,000 schools and help solve other global crises, such as raising awareness of global warming and the poaching of endangered species. Their awareness efforts are directed toward millennials the most because they’re the future of this planet, and the consequences of neglecting these issues will ultimately affect them and the generations after them.
For this reason, Karmagawa decided the best way to target millennials was to make film documentaries about these various causes and upload them to YouTube, where they could be watched free of charge. However, their only challenge is to find the right filmmaker who could not only create high-quality documentary films, but to also be just as passionate about these environmental issues as they are.
As they searched for such a filmmaker, they came across one who also happens to be a social media influencer on Instagram. Amir Zakeri, 22, was recruited by Karmagawa to help them produce a special documentary that raises awareness about the trend of dying coral reefs in the world. Since Zakeri was already very passionate about this issue, he jumped right into this opportunity to be the charity’s filmmaker for this project. This is a project they would name SafeTheReef.
“I might be a Kansas boy, but Hawaii is home. Hawaii has given me everything,” Zakeri said. Coral reefs produce over 50% of the world’s oxygen and absorb nearly 33% of the carbon emissions that come from people. With 40% of the world’s coral reefs already dead, this ultimately affects the oxygen supply of humans. “I don’t want me or my kids to need an oxygen mask just to walk outside. If we come together to solve this issue, we can solve any problem in the world,” he added.
The SafeTheReef documentary amassed over 4 million views since June 2019. Their other documentary about saving endangered rhinos has gotten over 30 million views on Instagram. These documentaries have helped Karmagawa get more people involved in their charity efforts. They were able to raise millions of dollars for several charities throughout the world, which are currently working to save the coral reefs and stop rhino poaching. For more information, please email: tim@karmagawa.com
Media Contact
SafeTheReef tim@karmagawa.com
