Filed under: Fun Ways to Give, Giving, How to Give Daily, Inexpensive Ways to Give, Poverty, Volunteering | Tags: change, charity, free ways to give, giving in hard times, random acts of kindness, San Francisco, service, take action
By Sarah Keyston
I just returned from serving lunch at Glide Memorial in San Francisco with three others on the UniversalGiving team, including our founder and CEO Pamela Hawley, as well as some members of other foundations in our office community. And I have to tell you, it was a truly humbling experience. We walked over from our office to begin our shift at 11:30am, and when we arrived, there was already a line of people waiting to eat. We donned hairnets, aprons, and gloves—and took a few funny pictures!—in preparation for food service.
UniversalGiving team hard at work
My job was scooping white beans into one of the spots on the tray. Though the compartmentalized trays reminded me of my plates when I was five years old, the divisions were certainly helpful in our speedy assembly of hundreds of meals. The meal today was a fish and pasta stew with white beans, juicy strawberries, and garlic bread. Definitely a hearty meal, though one adorable man (shorter than I am, and missing a few teeth) came back for a TENTH helping. We volunteers were absolutely blown away by the amount of food that he put away, although it was probably his only chance to eat that day.
Robert, a seasoned member of the Glide team, informed us that the 500-some meals that we served between 12 and 1:30pm comprised a slow day for the kitchen, which often feeds over 1000 people in a single meal. Glide serves three meals a day, 364 days a year (their only day off being New Year’s Day) to many grateful individuals. While some there were quiet and seemingly melancholy, one particularly jolly man asked if we were “forced to work” at Glide, to which we replied that we were merely volunteering. He replied, “Volunteering? Well God bless you then!” I smiled—it is hard to top the feeling of warmth and fulfillment that I get from helping others.
Characters come through the door from all walks of life: homeless, struggling with substance abuse, unemployed. Robert pointed out four people who owned their own homes but could not afford to eat—and even more of a shock to me—five with college degrees. In these tough economic times, an even larger variety of people are suffering from hunger.
Though we often promote international giving opportunities as that is the nature of UniversalGiving, it is always important to remember our local communities. Something like serving meals at a local shelter or church is so easy to do, yet such a small gesture as sacrificing my own lunch break goes a long way in terms of showing compassion towards some very appreciative and hungry San Franciscans.
Interview by Jacqueline Labrador
Right now it’s a challenging time to own or run a business and even more difficult if it’s in the non-profit sector. But this didn’t stop Tia Razon CEO and founder of the Corazon Roxas Foundation from starting her own non-profit to help disadvantaged girls lead happy and productive lives. It may be a challenge to fund such an endeavor during an economic downturn, but resourcefulness and creativity can see you through even the toughest of times, and as Tia hopes, toward positive change.
What is the Corazon Roxas Foundation about?
The Corazon Roxas Foundation is dedicated to supporting organizations that provide care for girls who have been abused, abandoned or have been victims of human trafficking. We have 2 programs, one that provides care packages to orphanages and homes that care for these disadvantaged girls and the second, which provides educational opportunities for these girls to pursue college level training in medical, IT, and engineering fields.
What were the reasons behind starting your own non-profit?
While I was on vacation in the Philippines I visited an orphanage and an abused girl’s home. That visit proved to be life changing. I met many young girls, all under 10 years old, with heart breaking stories. One girl under 4 had been thrown in the dumpster, one was left at the doorstep, some were abused by their family members – all were seeking refuge at this home. The children were lovingly cared for in a dormitory like setting. This was their safe house. The administrators of the home explained how they relied 100% on donations. When I got home, it became apparent that it didn’t take much to make a big difference. Our first shipment of food was received with much enthusiasm. The home sent us photos of the girls with the shipment – big smiles, holding up the goods we sent. It was very touching. We showed these to friends, one very special supporter, now a dedicated volunteer, shared it with her friend, a school teacher who said she would help with the second shipment. She donated reading books that were being discarded from her classroom collection. The second shipment got the same enthusiastic response. We showed the teacher the picture of the girls reading her books a continent away. She was very happy that they found a good home and sent the word out to her fellow teachers. We got the call one day to pick up literally thousands of books from her school! That was the beginning.
What are the goals for the Foundation and where would you like to see its progress in the next few years?
We would like to grow the number of organizations we support. Our care packages provide day to day support for these organizations but we wanted to go further, guided by the expression “you give a man a fish and he eats for a day, you teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime”. Our new partnership with the accredited Emilio Aguinaldo College will allow us to provide a professional education for a disadvantaged girl. Our hope is that by providing an education in well paying professions like medicine, IT, and engineering these girls will be able to provide a good life for herself and her future family. We would like to send 2 girls to school in the 2010 school year and double that amount each year thereafter. We want to create a community of professional women who can rise above their poverty, setting an example for the next generation to follow.
Additionally, we have recently partnered with an organization who cares for the neediest of girls in a town that once serviced a US military base. A notorious community of prostitution had developed for many years when the base was active. Many women out of necessity resort to prostitution to survive and feed their families. Some of their children are illiterate, victims of abuse, or human trafficking. You quickly learn the meaning of the word ”helpless” when socio-economic factors are stacked against you. And that’s why we strongly support the Preda Foundation’s goal of helping these women reach for a better life. It is all about providing opportunities that many of these girls would never have.
Are there any issues that your foundation deals with that you would like people to be more aware of?
Gender Inequality is a problem especially in Asia. UNICEF’s “The State of the World’s Children Report in 2007″ finding is that equality between men and women is essential in lowering poverty and improving health particularly among children in developing nations. Around the world, women and girl’s suffer physical and sexual violence with little or no recourse for justice. Human Trafficking is especially pernicious as it preys on the most vulnerable in our society – women, children, the poor, and the least educated. Education is the key to a domino effect that can change lives. As a small organization our challenges are daunting however we believe by helping even one life at a time we can make a difference.
What inspires you?
Seeing the look on our recipients faces when they receive our shipments, reading letters of gratitude, and hearing stories of how they squirrel away our books to read at night despite the house rules. As well as listening to the teachers tell us how they value the shipments, something that was destined for landfill in the US. Knowing our small efforts are making a difference is inspiring and satisfying.
What are the challenges that you face in today’s economy starting a new foundation?
Starting our organization during these times is very difficult. With economies all over the world being hit, it is most difficult for those who had nothing to begin with. Honestly, we struggle with how to raise awareness to potential supporters. Thanks to organizations like UniversalGiving we hope to raise awareness. A little bit goes a long way. Our dollar goes 50 times further in the Philippines. We try to be creative and resourceful and one such effort is “educational recycling” – taking children’s books scheduled for landfill and shipping them to elementary schools in remote villages. We are partnering with colleges and foundations to double the number of girls who can attend college. Grant matches and giving part time jobs to our recipients are all ways we are trying to be resourceful.
Filed under: Inspirational Thoughts, Poverty, Social Change | Tags: community, generosity, Pamela Hawley, respect, sharing
By Cheryl Mahoney
Our founder and CEO, Pamela Hawley, was recently in Colombia for a conference with the Inter-American Development Bank. While there, she had the opportunity to volunteer in the local community, which led her to write some beautiful thoughts I wanted to share here:
“One of my favorite parts was visiting the community where some of the women had participated in building and buying their first homes. The pride, the ownership, was so palpable. Nothing was taken for granted. Whereas in the past, a home consisted of one, wide, open-space room, now there was the privilege of having separated rooms as a sign of status and increased wealth.
“An interesting concept: Separation as status. It does seem right in many ways: There was a room for the children to sleep; there was a private bedroom for the parents. Often animals were kept inside the home, and now they had a place outside. Of utmost pride were gardens outside, where natural food was being grown, harvested, for use in the day to day.
“But it also gets me thinking about the sense of community. Certainly privacy, protection of the husband-wife relationship, and having defined space is a respectful element we all appreciate. On the other hand, communities are often compacted — dozens of people can and do live together in a shared space.
“What happens here is truly the utmost in ‘client service.’ People must learn to share and be respectful – albeit forced at times due to the circumstances — on an entirely different level. I can’t even imagine the patience, perseverance, kindness and utmost of common consideration that entails. These values must be demonstrated consistently, simply in order to live harmoniously. It makes me think about how much respect I can give — and all the more I can give — to those with whom I live, especially since I do have my separate room. I think these communities are made up of remarkable people.”
Personally, I love my separate room. I have two roommates, and even with my own room sometimes it feels a little crowded. It’s good for me–for all of us, I expect–to remember what a privilege space really is, and also to remember the opportunity presented by shared space. Living together creates a bond of community, and also creates an opportunity to practice patience, respect and consideration–to create a harmonious space for everyone.
Pamela was also interviewed with the Inter-American Development Bank; check out the podcast. And if you’d like to help build a home in Colombia, you can do that too.
Filed under: Give to Children, Inspirational Thoughts, Poverty, Social Change | Tags: charity, homeless, San Francisco
By Cheryl Mahoney
Julie Michelle initially walked past the homeless family standing on the sidewalk one afternoon, a woman and three children.
I think we’ve all been there. I know in San Francisco, at least, where Julie lives and where UniversalGiving is based, the homeless are a sadly familiar sight.
But after walking on a block, Julie turned back around. That’s how she met Kelaya and her three children, including a two-month old baby. Kelaya had fled a domestic violence situation, and was asking for money to keep herself and her children in a motel for that night, because there was no room at the shelters. Julie gave her the $30 she had in her wallet, then went home and wrote a blog post asking for help for Kelaya. You can read that initial post here.
The result? An outpouring of love and support from all over the world. There’s been donations of clothes and toys, and enough money to stay temporarily at a motel. Not only that, the story is turning into a campaign to highlight the inadequacies in the services available for the homeless. Yesterday, the story made it onto ABC News.
All because one woman saw another woman’s pain, and reached out a hand to help. How inspiring.
How far will it all go? I don’t know, but I’ll be watching to see.
Filed under: Fun Ways to Give, Giving, Inexpensive Ways to Give, Poverty | Tags: free ways to give, geography, internet games, water needs
By Cheryl Mahoney
Just the other day I stumbled across a great way to give, for free. I found FreePoverty.com. Similar in concept to FreeRice.com, mentioned in an earlier post, you play a knowledge-based game, and correct answers mean giving to someone in need.
FreePoverty.com’s game is geography-based, and allows you to give cups of water. I found the game rather addicting! A city and country (sometimes a landmark) pops up at the top of the window, and you have a limited amount of time to click the correct location on the map. A flag then drops onto the page to show you the exact location, so you can see how close you got.
One aspect I love to the game is that you can get partial credit. Perfect answers donate ten cups of water, but for close answers smaller amounts are donated, amount varying on how good your answer is. You can keep playing until you get five answers completely wrong. In a single game, you can give hundreds of cups of water to people in need, while honing your geography skills. How can you go wrong with that? And you can play as many times as you want.
Over 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water. But here’s a fun and easy way to help. So far, FreePoverty.com has given over 90 million cups of water!
Looking for other ways to give involving water? Click here.
