ABOUT US
Marshall Plan Charities utilizes an holistic approach to lifting impoverished rural villages out of the cycle of poverty and despair through an outreach program that provides access to education, nutrition, clean water, healthcare, and economic opportunity.
+ Who We Are
Marshall Plan Charities is a Texas based non-profit corporation founded by international freedom fighter Joanne King Herring. For over 30 years, Joanne has been a voice for the Afghan people in their fight against poverty, health issues, poor education, lack of clean water, and poor nutrition. In 2009, she founded Marshall Plan Charities with the intent to simultaneously provide clean water, food, health care, education, and vocational skills to rural Afghan villages, thus building a foundation of stability, economic opportunity, and prosperity. With each successful village project, the umbrella of peace will expand and the need for military intervention will diminish. Village by village we can restore hope and lay the foundation for a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
+ What We Do
Marshall Plan Charities follows an holistic approach to village redevelopment. By focusing on the 5 basic pillars of clean water, food, health care, education, and vocational skills, provided to a village simultaneously, a rural village will have the foundation necessary to be self-sufficient and prosperous. Our success stems from establishing a direct relationship with the people of the village, determining exactly what their needs are, creating a development partnership, and utilizing local labor and materials. Our approach is not to give to a village, but to provide the people of the village the opportunity to lift themselves up and provide for themselves a better future.
+ MPC Founder — Joanne Herring
Famously noted for her participation in the Houston social scene, the proverbial "socialite," she also hosted a popular local daytime talk show, The Joanne King Show, from the late 1950s to 1970s.
In 1973, after she divorced King, she married the prominent Houston oilman Robert Herring, who passed in 1981. Thanks to Robert's business dealings in the Middle East, he influenced Joanne and her eventual efforts to influence the happenings elsewhere in Pakistan and Afghanistan and her work with Charlie Wilson.
Joanne's passion to help with the recovery of Afghanistan is evident in her founding of Marshall Plan Charities. Her passion for protecting and bringing home the valiant men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces is even stronger. Through the efforts of Marshall Plan Charities, Joanne’s goal is to deliver a message of peace, a foundation of hope, and to allow our troops to return home.
She currently resides in Houston.
AREAS OF FOCUS
EDUCATION
To create educational opportunities through the construction of schools or the renovation of existing structures and creating partnerships with governmental and non-profit organizations for sustained performance.
NUTRITION
To provide healthy and sustainable food sources by implementing sustainable agriculture programs and providing access to resources and agronomy education programs and advisors.
WATER
To deliver access to clean drinking water and improvements to agriculture irrigation systems.
HEALTH CARE
To increase the accessibility of quality healthcare and medical services providers and to promote a community centered health and sanitation awareness outreach program.
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
To reverse the systemic cycle of poverty through skills based training and the creation of sustainable livelihoods.
PROJECT AREAS
Marshall Plan Charities is partnering with villages in Herat Province in western Afghanistan who desperately need the basic fundamentals for living a peaceful and prosperous life. Marshall Plan Charities' first village project was in Khairabad in the southern reaches of Herat Province just east of Highway One. The project consisted of a new school, clinic, vocational training center, water wells, and agriculture improvements. Today, over 500 boys and girls are attending school, the clinic treats over 100 patients a week, agriculture production has increased, and the local villagers have learned welding, weaving, sewing, and carpentry skills. As we expand north from Khairabad, we will deliver the same opportunities to new villages creating an overlapping network of stable and prosperous villages that will provide economic opportunity and access to education, healthcare, nutrition, and clean water. Over time, we will continue to expand the network to include neighboring provinces. Through your support, our outreach will provide the people of Afghanistan the hope to break the endemic cycle of poverty that encompasses their daily life and allow them to flourish in the peace and prosperity brought by opportunity.
GALLERY
JOANNE HERRING
OUR NEWS
"Joanne's Plan"
"Joanne's Plan" works by providing 5 vital elements: Food, Water, Education, Healthcare, and Jobs.
Through "Joanne's Plan," Khairabad village, Herat Province, Afghanistan became self-supporting and has flourished for 8 years in the midst of war and national hardship. The village serves as the district center for the 20,000 people living in Kooh-Zor District. The school and clinic built through the efforts and financial support of Marshall Plan Charities provide educational opportunities for nearly 900 boys and girls and healthcare to the local population. Irrigation and water wells provide much needed resources for agriculture and clean water for drinking. The vocational training center has afforded the opportunity to learn skills and vocational trades for the men and women and has served as a community center.
By providing these resources simultaneously, "Joanne's Plan" serves as a blueprint for sustainable and replicable development at a fraction of the cost of traditional aid programs. If "Joanne's Plan" can work in a country facing the ravages of war, "Joanne's Plan" can work worldwide to fight poverty, to increase educational opportunities, to deliver healthcare, clean water, and nutrition, thus rendering a solution at the local level. By helping them where they are, communities will not be forced to flee in search of opportunity. Opportunity will come to them.
The link below provides a visual representation to the scope of the crisis gripping so many countries around the world and a how locally directed solution is the only answer.
"World Poverty, Immigration & Gumballs" presented by Roy Beck — (Video, 12:11, youtu.be/KCcFNL7EmwY)
Medical Clinic Care Status Elevated
Shouz School Enrollment has Grown to 795 students
2018 School Year Starts with 500 Students
Luncheon in Houston with Afghanistan's Ambassador to the U.S.
More:
Dialogue With Diplomats Features Ambassador Mohib in Houston, Texas
Sister Cities International and United Nations Association of the United States of America host Dialogue with Diplomats luncheon featuring Afghan Ambassador to the U.S., H.E. Hamdullah Mohib (via The Embassy of Afghanistan, Washington D.C.)
Philanthropist's aid to Afghan village a model for the nation (via Houston Chronicle)
CONTACT
© 2018 Marshall Plan Charities