Originally organized in 1999, Mercy Centre USA today supports a number of charities in Thailand which provide care, protection and education for the poorest of children. These long established charities all have proven records of service to the poorest of the poor, especially abandoned, abused, trafficked and HIV/AIDS children in need of care, protection, and education.
Among the charities given support are the Sarnelli House Foundation in Nong Khai, Thailand, the Human Development Foundation in the Klongtoey district of Bangkok, aka the Mercy Centre, and The Little Birds Youth Network Foundation in Bangkok.
We are an IRS qualified 501(c)(3) charity staffed solely by volunteers. Your tax-deductible donations flow completely to the charities in need with little administrative and fundraising expenses.
Former Senator Jim Webb has been a combat Marine, a counsel in the Congress, an assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy, a national security and foreign policy specialist, an Emmy-award winning journalist, a filmmaker, and is the author of ten books.
Webb graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968, receiving a special commendation for his leadership contributions. First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer's Basic School, he served as a rifle platoon and company commander in Vietnam and was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts. He graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1975, having received the Horan Award for excellence in legal writing. His interest and support for the Mercy Centre goes back to 1990.
Alex first became involved with the Mercy Centre when she moved to Bangkok to volunteer there in 2011. She is currently the Development Operations Manager at Raw Art Works, a youth-arts nonprofit based outside of Boston, where she oversees RAW’s marketing, PR, events, and individual donor stewardship.
Donie, originally from county Cork in Ireland and now New York city, is a celebrated traditional Irish musician who came to the Mercy Centre in 2010 at the invitation of his good friend in music, Dr. Mick Moloney. Donie has returned to visit Mercy every year since then and is a key figure in organizing the Irish music community on the East coast of the U.S. to support Mercy through yearly fund raising concerts.
Chairman - Tom and his wife May were co-founders of Mercy Centre USA in 1999. He was educated at Marquette University and then went to Johns Hopkins University for graduate studies in international affairs. He served in Vietnam, where he was wounded, and decorated for his combat service. His career in Asia included foreign service postings and then corporate work with GE. Eventually he volunteered to work for the Mercy Centre, the world renowned street kids charity based in the Klong Toey slum area of Bangkok.
Tom works as a writer. His web site is at www.tomcrowleybooks.com His most recent book is Mercy’s Heroes, which recounts his fourteen years as a volunteer working at the Mercy Centre, has been nominated for a Siam Book award.
Matt’s connection with Fr. Joe and Mercy goes back to the mid 80s when he served as the Political-Military officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. Matt has a graduate degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin. After serving as an officer in the U.S. Army and as a Special Agent in the U.S. Secret service, Matt joined the State Department holding posts in several Asian countries, including as Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy Bangkok and Embassy New Delhi.
While in Washington, Matt was assigned to a variety of positions dealing with the Balkans, South Asia and Southeast Asia. When he retired from the Foreign Service, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for US relations with Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island nations.
Upon leaving the State Department his work included a post as President of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council.
Sean first visited the Mercy Centre in Bangkok in 2011 and has been an interested active supporter ever since. Since graduating from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1994, Sean has been practicing architecture on large scale commercial and public projects throughout the western US and is currently residing in Portland, Oregon.
David Montgomery is an economist whose career included teaching, government service and consulting. He is now retired and lives in Easton, MD. David is active in the Catholic Church, publishes an online journal of opinion, and does occasional consulting as an expert witness.
David has a PhD in economics from Harvard University. He graduated from Wesleyan University summa cum laude with a BA in Social Studies, and studied at Cambridge University on a Fulbright Scholarship.
In his teaching career, David was on the faculty at the California Institute of Technology and a visiting lecturer at Stanford University. During his government service, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Systems Analysis and later Assistant Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
John, worked in the ad industry in New York city in the early 90s. He came to Thailand and then to Mercy in the mid 1990s as he worked in the ad industry in Bangkok. He subsequently volunteered full time at Mercy and developed virtually all the brochures and written materials used to this day. He now splits his time between Bangkok and the U.S. and is frequently at Mercy during his time in Bangkok.
Dr. Jim has been a supporter of the Mercy Centre since the mid 1970s when he worked as a Pediatrician in Bangkok. Fr. Joe would bring sick kids to Dr. Jim’s house on weekends to have them diagnosed and treated as possible. He is an ongoing donor who well understands Fr. Joe and the Thai scene.
He continues to practice medicine in Ohio today.
Robert’s involvement with Mercy Centre commenced when he chanced across it in a Google search while visiting Bangkok and then made an impromptu visit to meet Fr. Joe. Deciding on the spot to sponsor a child at Mercy Centre, his interest and involvement has ramped up since that time. Robert received his BA from the International School of Service at American University in Washington DC, and his Juris Doctor degree at Syracuse University College of Law. After a career in finance, Robert started a trading distribution company, Liquidations.com where he is CEO.
Ruth has been a friend and supporter of the Mercy Centre since 2002. Ruth traveled to Thailand and Mercy many times (also around the rest of the world) with her husband Jack Tieder who served as Chairman of Mercy Centre USA from 2006-2012. Besides the Mercy Centre Ruth is involved as an advocate of several non-profit groups including RespectAbility, which works to provide people with disabilities with respect and opportunity; Creating Communities, which works to provide disadvantaged youth opportunities in Art; the League of Conservation Voters; and Arundel Rivers which works with the community around Annapolis to restore the South, West and Rhodes rivers.
An accomplished artist/illustrator Ruth has had as clients the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History Museum, Cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C. and others. She is a certified 500-hour yoga teacher.
True has been a supporter of the Mercy Centre in Bangkok since a visit in 2001. She retired as Senior Trial Attorney, Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Office of International Affairs, in 2009. Her work involved coordinating extradition and legal assistance requests between the United States and our treaty partners around the world. Prior to joining the Criminal Division, True was an Assistant District Counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Homeland Security) in Boston from 1988-1990.
True attended the University of West Florida and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Sciences (1977) and a Master of Business Administration (1980). She received her Juris Doctor degree from New England School of Law (magnum cum laude) (1988).
In addition to working with Mercy Centre USA, True also volunteers with the Light House, a Homeless Prevention Support Center in Annapolis, MD, whose mission is to rebuild lives with compassion by providing shelter and services to prevent homelessness and empower people as they transition toward employment, housing and self-sufficiency.
