Children’s Hope Fund, Inc. is our official name. Although we are incorporated we still have not finalized our 501(c)(3) status. Getting qualified as a non-profit organization is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, but luckily we found a wonderful lawyer who is helping us through the application process pro-bono. There remain a few details to iron out, but we’re making good progress.

We’ve accomplished many of our goals. The next big one is getting our 501(c)(3) status, and we’re working diligently on making that happen. Thank you to all who have supported us in this endeavor. We are extremely grateful for those of you who helped us out monetarily, as well as with your time, so far and we hope that you will continue to do so in the future.

Thanksgiving is traditionally known for spending time with family and friends, gathering to give thanks and share a really good meal. This Thanksgiving take time to reflect and appreciate your many blessings. All too often we forget about the little things that we have been blessed with and forget to count these as blessings. Are you alive? Can you read? Do you own shoes, do you have clothes? Do you go to sleep in a bed with a roof over your head and a full stomach? We always wish we had this or we had that, but at times we seem to overlook of all the blessings that have been bestowed upon us already.

My thought for this holiday is focused on being happy and at peace with everything. There are so many people suffering all over this country and the world. They don’t have enough to eat, they don’t have a roof over their head and they don’t have a permanent place to live. There is so much poverty in so much of the world and many will go to sleep hungry. Count your blessings each and every day, not just on Thanksgiving and try not to take things for granted. It doesn’t matter if you live in a mansion, an apartment or a room in a downstairs basement. The fact is if you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, then you are better off than most of the world. Try to help those who are less fortunate and you will find that if you do well to others, it comes back to you tenfold. Though money can buy you lots of things it can never buy you happiness.

Every day, millions of children struggle to survive in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances. You can’t help them all, but you can give the gift of a brighter future to one child in need.

Impoverished children of Bacoor are in desperate need of help. Right now, none of them are being reached. They’re barely surviving. For these children it means struggling with poverty in the immediate present, and the loss of prospects for the future: children are dropping out of school. They are begging at a very young age. They don’t have the opportunity to fully develop themselves. They are exposed to risks which are larger than the risks of children who might be in school, who might have a more normal life. There’s a whole generation of children whose basic needs are not being met, but also who cannot be as functional in society as one might desire. But there is hope, you can join me in reaching a goal of making the world a better place by helping these children grow into responsible, healthy, educated and self-reliant adults. Please help me raise funds for school supplies, used books, used clothing, shoes, toys, and medicine to send to these children.

Over 500 students greeted us at Bacoor Elementary School when we hosted a meal program on Wednesday, November 11, some went to school hungry and dirty without shoes or adequate clothing, however, the children were very optimistic. In this trip I met hundreds of children and dozens of families. While my heart aches, I am encouraged that despite the extreme poverty they live in, the children still have hopes and dreams. The school is filled with laughter and kids running around. When I asked the children what they want to be when they grow up? The answers are lawyer, teacher, doctor, nurse, policeman, fireman, president. Their potential is being lost under the weight of the extreme poverty they deal with every day.

Even though education is the right of every child, not all children get to go to school. Education is essential to every child that I met. It’s the most reliable way of working towards breaking the cycle of extreme poverty. Every child has a right to it. As the world becomes a smaller place with technology advances, we become more aware of of the well being of children around the world. It is up to us to decide whether we choose to try to help save the lives of these children. The weakest and the most helpless in our world can only depend on the goodwill of those who have the means to help. Thank you all for sharing this journey with me. What we accomplished on this trip made a huge impact on the lives of so many children. You are a hero for over 900 children we that we visited on this trip. You made an immediate difference in their lives.

Happiness, freedom, love and peace of mind are always attained by giving it to someone else.

As we passed out the backpacks at Bacoor Elementary School the children’s faces lit up with excitement. They said it was the first time that they had ever received any help like this. Some teachers cried, saying that this gave them hope for the children’s future and theirs. The children were very eager to see us. They’re very excited about the backpacks they all received. Each one had 5 notebooks, 2 pencils, 2 erasers, notepads, crayons in them, and the teachers received a huge box of chalk enough to last the rest of the school year. All of these items had been requested by the faculty and staff for their students.

Looking around the classroom I noticed a few kids looked quite mature for the 1st grade. After speaking with the teacher I was informed that these children cannot afford school supplies to attend school one kid is 12 years old he wanted to attend school so bad so he sells goods in the morning so he can afford school supplies before attending first grade.

My vision is to help create schools where a poor family doesn’t have to provide their own educational materials (their earnings are barely enough to buy food), and over the next fifteen years alter the culture so that education and a better life is a certainty for those who are willing to work for it. Give these children a future, a sense of pride and dignity. So they don’t have it so hard.

I am very grateful for everyone who supported this project, your help made a huge impact in the lives of these children. I was able to provide meals, school supplies, candy treats, medicine, rice and canned goods to those who needed it the most. Without your help, none of it would have been possible. Thank you.

Over 300 kids greeted us this past Saturday when we hosted a meal for the children. Malnutrition rates are so high in the poorest area of Bacoor, Tabing Dagat, which makes meals for these children absolutely critical. These kids are all roughly 7 years of age. They were quite small for their age. Despite their cheery faces, they were incredibly thin.

By the time the project is finished here and it’s my time to return to Colorado, we will have fed over 900 kids (1 day that they don’t have to worry if they’re going to eat or not). I am hoping that I can continue a meals program for these kids even just once a month.

Thank you to all who made it possible for this kids to enjoy a much needed meal. I would also like to thank the people of Bacoor who volunteered their time to help me facilitate everything. Please check out the pictures so you can see the children that you’re helping.

Went to the city to pick up 1,000 notebooks, erasers, pencils, chalk and notepads. I ordered over 200 backpacks, as well as crayons, candy treats for the kids and faculty members were purchased as well. This is great as I know we can really provide some serious help. There are over 1,000 kids who need help, but our goal is to help the neediest kids first, those who have no money to spend on school supplies. Some of the kids are orphans being raised by relatives. Some have parents that can’t find work.

On Wednesday I visited one of the poorest areas here. The town captain, Eves DelaCruz, gave me a tour of the area. Seeing these kids and their families broke my heart. They lived near the garbage dumpsite. What separated them from the mud, dead animals and garbage were simply makeshift bridges, which also served as their floor, made of scrap wood and bamboo. Just this month alone 4 children died after slipping through holes in the walkways and were never found. Their homes are made of cardboard, scrap wood, boxes and whatever materials they can find to make a makeshift house. Living conditions are very poor and access to health services is non-existent. There are no words or pictures to describe the depth of poverty these children live with every day. No one has a choice in when and where they are born, they simply must survive as best they can. There are so many factors to global poverty that very few understand. One thing I know for sure, no one wants to be poor and relying on the support of others. How can these children with no education or sense of hope lift themselves up from their situation? They have no means of their own, they need your help…

After speaking with the teachers and faculty members this afternoon. I was informed that a lot of the kids cannot afford to attend school everyday because their family income is barely enough to buy food for the family. There are over 1200 kids at this school that need the gift of education, they are the poorest of the poor. The school year in the Philippines is about 10 months long. They go from 1st to 6th grade. I asked the teachers what are the barriers the school faces day to day with educating these kids? Their answer – lack of school supplies, school uniforms, educational sponsorship, water wells to free children from the task of hauling water, classrooms, school lunch programs and all types of other school supplies including desks and blackboards. Guaranteeing each child one meal per day improves their overall health, affects their performance in school and encourages better school attendance. I am so grateful that with your help we’re able to provide school supplies and meals to over 200 children.

After 20 hours in the air I finally arrived in Manila. As soon as I stepped off the plane I felt the humid air hit me in the face. What a sauna! I wondered how I am going to focus staying in the slum where I grew up. In such suffocating heat without even an electric fan to ease the humidity. Also, there was another typhoon meaning muddy, wet afternoon and downpours in the evening.

I’m in a tiny coastal town called Bacoor, south of Manila, in the province of Cavite. Most people here make a living from fishing and it’s not much of a living. Today I visited Bacoor Elementary School where the poorest of children attend. I met with Mrs. Tessie Malabana (on my left in the picture) she’s the guidance counselor, to my right is the assistant principal Lori Roderos (the principal is attending a convention). I’m scheduled to have a working lunch meeting with 32 of their faculty members tomorrow to assess their needs.