Finances
The annual budget for the Garden of Flowers is about $42,000. This covers every single material expense for a strong Montessori education, including nutritious and delicious food, and wellness support. It also provides healthy salaries for the compassionate and dedicated staff, some of whom have been with us for over 20 years. The children who attend the GoF are identified as being vulnerable and in great need, and benefit also from nutritional support. This year, the program is also expanding to include children from ages 6-12. Over 30 children from ages 3-12 are served in the Garden of Flowers every day.
Starting September 2026, the budget has been increased to also reflect a newly structured system of support for families with identified vulnerable children. These are children with handicaps, illnesses, are orphaned, or are severely destitute. Through this new Ministry-approved program, the GoF will be providing cash support monthly for such families (about $30/month per family for 6 months at a time) to help them provide a healthy childhood for their children.
For 25 years, MEPO has operated solely on donations from individuals.
Monthly Budget of the Garden of Flowers, Expanded Program (2026)
|
Operational expenses and education program (food, utilities/energy, communication, clothing, medical support, taxes, school and administrative supplies, facility maintenance, educational supplies, Montessori materials) Vulnerable child family support |
$ 850
$ 500 |
| Rent | $ 450 |
| Salaries (3 teachers, 1 part-time admin/finance, 1 cleaning/cooking staff, 2 guards/assistants ) | $1700 |
| Total per month | $ 3500 |
This formal support will continue to be supplemented on the side by MEPO’s Family Aid Funds (Project #433 on Lantern Projects). This separate fund has been used for helping families on an urgent and immediate basis to meet their basic needs. This includes food, energy (wood), medicines, medical services (surgeries, labs, glasses, etc) for those who need it on a case-by-case personal basis. This is the flexible and responsive approach of MEPO, to be there for those who fall through the cracks and have no other support. The GoF staff is highly skilled at identifying and determining true needs of desperate people.
There are NO administrative costs.
All donations go to the people in our projects, and NO donation funds are used for administrative expenses. In addition, no funds go through the government. Everything is managed by our long-time Afghan partner organization, HEWAD, provides management for no extra fee. This is a remarkable gift from them, and shows their own dedication to Afghan society. This is why we work with them – not because of the money, but because they are in it with their hearts.
