Image of Mark Parcher

Mark Parcher

Mark Parcher is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of PathLight. 

We asked him to explain why he supports our mission.  Here’s his story:

In 2005, my boss informed me that our division was being sold and that there would be a significant layoff. He offered me a job in the new company, but I declined.  My wife, Adrienne, and I had already decided to take a break from our careers.  With our three children grown and out of the house, she and I volunteered to work in a bi-lingual Christian school in Costa Rica.

Teaching English at the school was a great experience, but the most impactful part of our time in Costa Rica proved to be the friendships we made outside the school walls. On the other side of town, we met a woman named Cecilia who was providing food to fifty underprivileged children twice a week, despite barely being above the poverty line herself!

Our developing friendships with Cecilia and the children had a profound effect on us. As Adrienne and I invested our time and resources in Cecilia’s project, we began to realize that helping others brought us more happiness and fulfillment than we could imagine. 

So, when our good friends Roy and D’Aun Goble offered us an opportunity to start a new nonprofit serving the poor, we jumped at the chance and moved to Belize in 2007.  As we discovered the needs and opportunities in Belize, PathLight was born. 

Initially we were focused on students and teachers from a few nearby villages. As people began to catch PathLight’s vision to help families break free from generational poverty, it grew into an organization that has transformed hundreds of lives has the potential to reach thousands more.

I cannot think of anything more important in a young person’s life than family, faith and education. By supporting all three of those elements, PathLight is offering real hope in Belize. I know it is making a difference and I feel blessed to be a part of it.  I invite you to partner with us, I think you will be blessed by it too.