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Christin Chiles, the granddaughter of former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, and daughter of prominent local restaurateur Ed Chiles, has Burma burgers on her brain.
Chiles, 24, is a missionary in Burma, Thailand, where she is a leader on a project called Journey Thailand. The goal of project, according to Christin Chiles, is to create opportunities for Burmese citizens through a self-sustaining business. Journey Thailand's method is Burgers for Burma, a capital campaign to raise money toward opening a restaurant where locals can work, earn money and learn about entrepreneurialism.
The campaign has already raised $10,000, and aims for at least another $15,000 by April 15. The money will be used for a business license and to buy equipment, from a griddle and a refrigerator to tables and chairs.
Christin Chiles waited tables and worked the hostess stand in high school and college at the Chiles family restaurants, which include the Sandbar on Anna Maria Island and the Beachhouse on Bradenton Beach. But even with that experience, Ed Chiles says he grilled his daughter about the specifics of this project, which, at first, was “hard to get my head around,” he says.
That's why Chiles, before he invested some of his own money in the venture, “kept challenging her with things.” Chiles, whose late governor father earned the nickname “Walkin' Lawton” when he walked 1,000 miles during a campaign, from Key West to Pensacola, was ultimately swayed by his daughter's daring and entrepreneurial spirit.
“Christin is a remarkable girl,” Ed Chiles tells Coffee Talk. “My dad was a risk-taker, and I consider myself a risk-taker, and by God I have raised a risk-taking daughter.”
The restaurant will be named Famous Rays after Ray Ward, who, along with his wife and two daughters, has lived and served in Thailand for 11 years. In a blog post on the project, Christin Chiles says the Burmese people — amid a long civil war that's created 100,000 refugees — want reliable consistent jobs.
“The people here don't want hand outs,” Chiles writes. “By opening a business, we will be able to create steady jobs for both the Thai and Burmese. The restaurant's profits will be used to support and expand our ministries, as well as help fund our community development program in (a) Burmese village.”
For more information on the project or to donate go to http://simplykingdom.org/invest/. Checks can also be sent to the Journey Project at Kingdom, Inc., P.O. Box 98438, Atlanta, GA 30359.
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