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2020-10-19 Breaking News: TNKR is busy busy busy!



 Last week was a busy time, many meetings both in-person and online. In this blog post:
  • Partnerships
  • Interviews
  • Volunteers
  • Speech

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1) Partnerships


New TNKR board member

This is significant, a former Supreme Court justice has agreed to serve on TNKR's board of directors. This is important, it shows how TNKR has become a more mature organization. During 2021, we hope to develop more partnerships with organizations and individuals who can help raise TNKR's profile and impact.



Meeting with a huge organization

They have a huge building and many projects going on. They could fit all of TNKR in a corner and not even notice. Even our budget could disappear into their budget without them noticing until an auditor pointed it out.

Despite that, they would like to partner with us. This is another sign of TNKR's maturity as an organization. Years ago, we would not have dared to meet with them, we were a fly-by-night group with no apparent path to success.


The Korea Times

Our connection with the Korea Times newspaper continues to grow. 
  • They have been a sponsor of several of TNKR's English speech contests.
  • I have both a column and blog at the Korea Times. According to one of the editors, my blog is quite popular and my editor gripes at me for not sending in my column often enough (supposedly some readers follow me).

meeting with Oh Young-jin, president and publisher of the Korea Times.


my latest Korea Times blog post was the number one article all weekend long.



On Tuesday, I taught six hours of public speaking and discussion at a graduate school with the Korea Times newspaper as the main resource. Yes, I encouraged social distancing, but they bunched up anyway.





Foundation book donation

A foundation contacted us recently: "Could we donate some books to you?" In fact, they were quite specific: 223 books.

13 boxes arrived today, 4 should arrive tomorrow. We recently had books donated by TNKR Fan Club Vice-President Shannon Smith. That means we will be having another TNKR book sale for North Korean refugees.



Harvard Club of Korea

I joined the Happy Hour the club had on Wednesday. So far, Harvard Club of Korea members have donated more than $3,000 to TNKR.

The meeting was on a rooftop with bad lighting so none of the photos were posted, I am posting this photo from last year before the virus started destroying the world.

https://give.lovetnkr.com/Harvard-Alumni-for-TNKR

2019 Harvard Club of Korea Happy Hour photo

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2) INTERVIEWS

International reporter

She is working on a long article about North Korea and North Korean refugees, she dropped by the TNKR office to interview me. When I meet reporters, I expect them to go down the beaten path, but I did say a few things that got the interview off that beaten path.



South Korean blogger

She stopped by to interview me, I think we talked for almost three hours. It was a lot of fun, one of the more enjoyable interviews I have had. She says she will be setting up a fundraiser for TNKR.



Organization intern

An intern with a large organization dropped by to talk about various issues related to North Korean refugees. This one could also be filed under partnerships. 

She wrote about it in Instagram.

These days, when people ask me questions, I give unfiltered answers. It is good when people really want to hear the answers, rather than validation of what they believe or are already doing.


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3) VOLUNTEERS


Where have you been all of my TNKR life?

Usually when I meet with people who say they want to support TNKR, there is still the moment when they ask, "So when do I meet the refugees?" In my meeting with this American volunteer joining TNKR, that moment never came. She remain focused on how she could help build up TNKR.

It shouldn't be surprising that she already has experience in the non-profit world, so she knows that limited funds means less impact. That doesn't mean only money gets things done, but that having money means more possibilities.

Of course, we make opportunities for volunteers to meet refugees, that naturally happens with people who hang around us or get deeply involved. With our name, of course people expect to teach North Korean refugees. But not everyone at KFC kills or cooks chickens. 

When a volunteer remains focused on building the organization? That's like a man-bites-dog story, it is so unexpected. 

I asked her: "Where have you been all of my TNKR life?"



Office volunteer

This young lady set up a fundraiser for TNKR even before we ever met her, raising 500,000 won (about $400)! She will be going to college soon, and would like to volunteer with TNKR. She will be visiting the office once a week to help with miscellaneous office tasks.




Hello again!

It is always great when former TNKR volunteers visit the office. Taylor was a really active volunteer in 2017, even leading an event selling items at a Korean flea market.


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4) SPEECH
 
"Do black lives matter in Korea?"

Probably the highlight of the week for me was being a featured speaker at the University of Utah (Asia Campus). It started with me organizing and speaking at an off-the-record forum in June. One of the attendees then invited me to speak at her university.

You can check for photos and more information here.








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