In late 2012, Stan Kontos and Peter Gardiakos privately visited the Joyland Orphanage near Silay City in the Philippines. On their return, UCF decided to ask local business people to partner with UCF to raise $25,000 to attend to some pressing needs such as water, a new (used) car, finishing work on the verandah etc.
In addition it was decided to fund the building of an eggery to provide income to help Joyland towards self-sustainability. Whatever you may feel about caged-egg production, in the Philippines theft is rife and there is no alternative. In fact Joyland have two guards on the premises every night.
A plan is “hatched”
As it turned out, guests at the Joyland fundraising breakfast were very enthusiastic about the Joyland Partner Project and the $25,000 was raised. In January 2013, Peter Gardiakos “donated” his birthday and earmarked an extra $5,000 to Joyland from the funds donated to UCF in lieu of gifts. That brought the total to $30,000 and every cent was spent providing much needed replacement utilities and the building of the eggery.
How your Joyland Partner funds got there
Since Joyland were auspiced through ACC International Relief (ACC-IR), UCF agreed to receive copies of those 6-monthly acquittals rather than ask for a separate acquittal of funds. The auspice was necessary because UCF’s legal structure requires us to distribute funds to Australian registered charities with Deductible Gift Recipient status, known as DGR1. Joyland already had a project account with ACC-IR and this seemed to be the logical solution though they charge an administration fee as all auspicing organisations do. These fees amounted to $2,608 in total.
How the eggery stages were funded and built
Vehicle, verandah and water tank – January 2013
- Provide a vehicle (used) to help ferry children – $8,000
- Finish the verandah on the dining hall- $2,000
- Upgrade water system – $2,000
TOTAL $12,000 AUD
UCF Directors’ visit to Joyland Orphanage – January 2013
During January Stan Kontos and his wife Ourania, together with Peter Gardiakos and his partner Rita, visited Joyland Orphanage to meet the older children who would be appointed to manage the eggery.
Stan and Peter also provided mentoring to Erwin (CEO, pictured with his sister), John Mark (Operations Manager) and Reylee (Finance Manager) who would all be responsible not only for the eggery, but also collecting, sorting and selling the eggs to customers nearby.
A business plan was created and as each stage was funded and then completed, Pastor Rick Sutcliffe would send some photos and an application for funds for the next stage.
- Construction of the eggery and purchase of the first egg machine which is 96 hens – $4,000
- The water upgrade completed and a new tank as well – $2,500
TOTAL $6,500 AUD
Purchase two more egg machines plus weather proofing – July 2013
- Purchase and installation of two egg machines (192 hens)
- Purchase of eggery screens, tarpaulins and labour costs
TOTAL $4,350 AUD
UCF Directors visit Joyland again – February 2014
Stan and Peter together with Ourania and Rita visited Joyland again. By this time the eggery had almost 300 hens producing eggs for both consumption by the children – adding much needed nutrition – and for sale in local markets and to restaurants. By this time they were building a small regular customer base.
The group also took Pastor Rick, Suzett and the kids out for a meal – most had never had pizza!
Final egg machine and automatic watering system – March 2014
- Purchase of final egg machine (96 hens)
- Installation of an automatic watering system for the eggery
TOTAL $2,500 AUD
Fire Alarm System (government requirement) – June 2014
- Synchronised fire alarm system for 6 primary buildings – $1,500
TOTAL $1,500
Residual funds payment – September 2014
- To repair the garage and incorporate an egg sorting/storage room
TOTAL $542
Thank you to our Joyland Partners
Elizabeth & Keith Gustavsson
Jim Crawford
George Gardiakos
Chris Kats
Patricia Rieniets
Saverio Ielasi
Brian Scarborough (SA Lease Management)
Con Markou (CMA Chartered Accountants)
Will Marryatt (cosoff cudmore knox)
Michael Goglar
Catherine Hunter
Neil Gore
Spiro Houndas
Sam Raslan
Susan Lewis
Robert Alcock
David Hutchinson
Natasha Burfield
Trevi Lim
Paul Karkafiris
John Ngatia
Evan Jackson
Simon Bray
and Peter Gardiakos’ allocation from his 50th birthday donations to UCF 🙂
Thank you to his guests for their generosity
While the UCF Partner Project – Joyland eggery is now completed, you may wish to contribute to our new
UCF Partner Project – Books In Homes