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Last-minute Christmas shopping? Consider gifts that will last for years

Article (news)

Aneth Ng-Lim

<p>Former US President George H.W. Bush passed away in November but he made the headlines anew just three weeks after he was buried when a charity disclosed that he secretly sponsored a Filipino child for 10 years!</p><p>Bush not only gave $38 monthly towards Compassion International’s program, he also wrote letters to Timothy and even sent gifts to encourage the boy’s love for drawing.</p><p>If you haven’t finished with your Christmas shopping, why not take inspiration from Bush and consider giving gifts that make meaningful and lasting impact?</p><p>Consider these gift ideas that keep on giving, and you could be spreading holiday joy for your family and friends and people who need help year round.</p><div><strong>#1 The Gift of Noche Buena</strong></div><p>Online food service company Honestbee recently launched Bee Giving, Bee Kind, allowing its customers to order food baskets that will be delivered to Childhope Philippines. The food baskets range in cost from P375 to P500, and you can order as many baskets as you want and schedule the delivery to the designated charity.</p><p>Childhope Philippines in turn will pass on these food baskets to the families and street children under their care, for their Noche Buena feast, or Christmas meals, or even for Media Noche come New Year’s Eve.</p><p>To get started, log on to www.honestbee.ph and create an account which will take less than two minutes. You can give generously from the comforts of your home or office, and so conveniently too.</p><div><strong>#2 The Gift of Hope</strong></div><p>Childhope Philippines champions the cause of children who work and live on the streets. They are present in 15 areas in 6 cities of Metro Manila, and reaches out to 1,000 to 1,200 street children every year. You can support their projects with a one-time donation, or you can sign up for a recurring contribution.</p><p>With just P200, you can sponsor one street education session. You can also give P250 for one child to get basic school supplies, or P500 which will allow Childhope Philippines to provide basic medicine and vitamins for one month to a child and monitor his or her health.</p><p>If you can commit to monthly donations, your P800 to P2,000 can ensure that one child will be able to attend formal school, as it will cover their monthly allowance. You can choose to sponsor children in the elementary level or youth attending high school or college. Point your browser to www.childhope.org.ph for more information including bank details where you can deposit your donation.</p><div><strong>#3 The Gift of Health</strong></div><p>With over 60 years of providing assistance to Filipino children, the United Nations Children&#x27;s Fund or UNICEF is a familiar institution to most donors. They implement a wide range of programs from education to disaster risk reduction, and commits to spend 75% of every donation received directly for its beneficiaries.</p><p>You can also choose to donate once or monthly to support various programs including one focused on providing Oral Rehydration Salts, or ORS to save children suffering from acute diarrhea. In remote and poor areas where families have little or no access to safe drinking water, the ORS packet can spell the difference between life and death for a child suffering from diarrheal dehydration.</p><p>A one-time gift of P400 can provide 16 children suffering from severe diarrhea with ORS treatment in combination with zinc supplements. Zinc supplements prevent the recurrence of diarrhea in the next 2-3 months after the first episode.</p><p>Or if you feel you can do more, please consider a one-time contribution of Php800 or more which can help provide a shallow well and water pump for one community so that residents can have access to safe, drinking water. Visit www.unicef.org/philippines for more information on the many ways you and your donation can help.</p><div><strong>#4 The Gift of Light</strong></div><p>In this age of modern day conveniences, it’s hard to imagine families with no access to electricity, let alone light at night. This would mean parents cannot work or do chores around the house, the kids cannot study, the list simply goes on.</p><p>If you want to figuratively and literally bring light to Filipino families with limited or no access to electricity, you can contact Liter of Light or Isang Litrong Liwanag, and support them in their mission to provide affordable and sustainable solar light. Their first lighting solutions, introduced to Typhoon Haiyan survivors, were plastic bottles filled with water and bleach which illuminates when hit by the sun. Soon after, they found ways to bring solar panels to communities to extend their lighting solutions to street lights and lamps.</p><p>They also welcome volunteers to teach marginalized communities how to use recycled plastic bottles and locally sourced materials to illuminate not just their homes, but also businesses, and streets. Go to www.literoflight.org for more information.</p><div><strong>#5 The Gift of One Hour</strong></div><p>Did you know that you can gift one hour of your annual salary towards helping various projects on education, health &amp; nutrition, and child welfare &amp; development for Filipino children in need?</p><p>With Children’s Hour, you can sign up to donate at least one hour of your earnings once a year and no amount is too small. With P50, you can help strengthen a child’s participation in class with one nutritious meal. With P100, you can give a child the right and access to having a name through a birth certificate. For over 20 years, this charity has been committed to making sure your one hour’s pay can make a real difference.</p><p>* * *</p><p>One of the best things about living in the Philippines is the many ways you can extend a helping hand. No matter your budget or even lack of one, you can still help as volunteers are welcome by most charities in nearly all of our 7,100 islands. Big or small, there’s a difference only you can make, and this holiday season is as good as any time to start.</p><div> </div>

<p>No matter your budget or even lack of one, you can still help as volunteers are welcome by most charities in nearly all of our 7,100 islands. Big or small, there’s a difference only you can make, and this holiday season is as good as any time to start.</p>

No matter your budget or even lack of one, you can still help as volunteers are welcome by most charities in nearly all of our 7,100 islands. Big or small, there’s a difference only you can make, and this holiday season is as good as any time to start.