This is our 2011 Year in Review video, showing how your support has helped the children of Bacoor. Thank you all!!

The video was put together by Brad Rossini. Thanks, Brad!

Children’s Hope Fund will be holding a Year in Review event on Tuesday, 7/26 from 7-9pm at Forest Room 5 in Denver, CO (map).  We invite everyone to join us for a presentation of our efforts and accomplishments over the last year and see how your support has helped the children of Bacoor. We’re also excited to announce that representatives from the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation will be joining us to present Children’s Hope Fund with a generous grant to help in our continuing efforts. We hope to see you there, and please invite your friends!

On March 21st we conducted our March meals program where over 300 children at Bacoor Elementary school were provided a hot meal of arroz caldo, a traditional Filipino comfort food.  Thanks to all our supporters and volunteers for making this possible.  We couldn’t do it without you!

We would like to thank everyone who supported our meals program in February. Meals were delivered to over 300 children at Bacoor Elementary School. A dish called arroz caldo was served. Arroz caldo is a Filipino comfort food – a porridge with rice, vegetables and chicken cooked in chicken broth that is eaten in many Asian countries. Filipinos love arroz caldo and will eat it anytime of day.

This activity was conducted by volunteers who unselfishly shared their time and effort in preparing and distributing the meals. Thank you to all who made it possible for these kids to enjoy a much needed meal. I would also like to thank the people of Bacoor who volunteered their time to help facilitate everything. Please check out the pictures so you can see the children that you’re helping.

In November 2010, I went on a two-week backpacking trip to the Philippines with my sister and friend. From Manila, with our 40-pound backpacks, our destination was 9.5 miles away: Bacoor Cavite. A typical 10-minute drive in the States was a three-hour adventure. We first took a tricycle to the train station, then rode the train to a jeepney stop.

Jeepneys. I’ve never seen anything like it – picture a carnival on wheels. Bright colors, wild graffiti and decorative adornments embellished a school-bus-shaped vehicle. We missed our stop, going too far south and had to tread down a dirt road to get to another jeepney stop headed back the way we came. We then took another tricycle to Bacoor Elementary School. We made it!

On our journey, many asked us why we, tourists, were going to visit this town. What is there to do or see in this poor area? Well, today we were going to volunteer with Children’s Hope Fund (CHF), a Denver-based nonprofit organization that provides educational opportunities and resources to impoverished children.

We were greeted by Rosalie Concepcion, a school teacher and volunteer for CHF. She warmly welcomed us into her home where over a dozen volunteers were cooking. This day was an exciting day for 300 children. They were going to receive a hot meal – for free!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA-Y65ywCIk

The Children’s Hope Fund was hosting its monthly meal program that provided one piece of fried chicken, white rice and a juice box to each child. When we arrived at the site in the poor village of Tramo, the children were waiting patiently and orderly in the hot sun. They were lined in rows, each holding “the golden ticket.” Tickets for the free meal were distributed to children in school, as a way of encouraging them to attend.

The volunteers gave us a tour of the area. Many of the homes did not have doors – we could look right into them. They appeared to be formed by upright pieces of wood with a board slapped on top to function as the roof.

Some of the children did not have shoes, running around on the path of dirt and rocks. They were playing with bottle caps. Everyone greeted us with a smile. Many were missing teeth.

When the food arrived, my sister and friend assisted in passing out the meal boxes to the children. I wandered the area taking photos and making conversation with the parents – nearly all were women. Most said they were single mothers, working as the breadwinners for their family. They expressed their gratitude for Children’s Hope Fund. This meal was important to them. Some children had waited in line for more than two hours. Many mothers asked if there would be leftover lunchboxes available for them. I watched the joy on the children’s faces as they enjoyed such a simple meal.

It was an eye-opening experience. With the kind hearts of its volunteers, the Children’s Hope Fund was making a substantial impact on the lives of these children. Rosalie shared a major problem is that after concepts are taught in school, they are not reinforced at home because most parents are not educated enough to help. Many parents shared the same sentiments, but with guilt that they could not provide more for their children.

As my eyes began to well up, I realized that not only do I need to better appreciate what I have, but that there are many ways to help others even on the other side of the world.

With this experience kept firmly in my mind and closely in my heart, we left Bacoor Cavite to Batangas.

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Annie Guo is the President of Asian Avenue magazine, a monthly publication based in Denver, Colorado. This is an excerpt from the magazine.

We would like to thank everyone who supported our free meal program in November.  Hot meals were delivered to children in Tramo, a village in Bacoor, Cavite. There were over 300 children who attended the meal program, some of these kids in this area frequently skip meals or eat too little. Fried chicken, rice and juice was served.

This activity was conducted by volunteers who unselfishly shared their time and effort in the preparation and distribution of the meals. Thank you to all who made it possible for these kids to enjoy a much needed meal. I would also like to thank the people of Bacoor who volunteered their time to help facilitate everything. Please check out the pictures on our Facebook page so you can see the children that you’re helping.

Children’s Hope Fund is holding its inaugural Halloween Boo-Bash and Silent Auction Fundraiser at 7pm on 10/23/2010 at Rex Lounge in Denver, CO. (map)

Come help us celebrate our one-year anniversary and help the children of Bacoor, Cavite in the Philippines. There will be a DJ with music and karaoke, dancing, and lots of fun. We’re getting a lot of great items donated for the silent auction, so come bid and treat yourself to something good while helping the children at the same time.

It’s just $5 at the door to join in the fun, with all proceeds from the door and the silent auction going to help the kids.  Costumes are optional, so wear one if you want, but don’t feel like you have to in order to join in.

Please let all your friends know, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Children’s Hope Fund coordinated the collection and shipment of donations which were received in Bacoor, Cavite on August 05, 2010. The shipment included backpacks, pens, pencils, notebook, crayons, eraser, used children’s books, shoes, clothing, educational games and other miscellaneous items. Can you imagine how thankful, excited and happy these children were when they saw all that had been sent? I was told by one of our volunteers that English reading books are very rare and all the kids in the neighborhood were excited when they heard that the boxes had arrived – it’s like Christmas in August!

The donated clothing and other miscellaneous items will be distributed to the recent fire and typhoon victims in Bacoor, Cavite. The books, puzzles and other miscellaneous educational items will go to Bacoor Elementary School. CHF volunteers and the Barangay representatives will coordinate the distribution of the donated items.

If you have any books, children’s clothes, children’s shoes that are taking up too much space? Why not put them to good use in the Philippines? We will continue to collect donations and plan on sending more to the Philippines by the end of the year.

We want to thank everyone who has sent donations to help these kids.

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love”. Martin Luther King Jr.

We are searching for dedicated individuals to serve as volunteer committee members. Children’s Hope Fund has an ambitious agenda for the next ten months and we need you to help us reach our goals! We’re planning on holding a meeting once a month to discuss fund-raising ideas, supply drives, social media and community outreach. There are opportunities for all who are interested in serving. With your help, we can achieve our goal of providing every child in Cavite province with the educational necessities they need to become successful students.

As Dr. King said, everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You have something valuable to offer and I would like for you to consider partnering with me and Children’s Hope Fund, to promote the education and well-being of impoverished children in the Philippines. I am confident you will find the experience rewarding and fulfilling. We need your help in order for Children’s Hope Fund to have the greatest impact and help as many children as possible.

This past Sunday we boxed up the donated backpacks, school supplies, toys, clothing and much more and made arrangements for them to be shipped to the Philippines. We are pleased to announce that we reached our goal this year – over 300 students who would have missed this school year were sent to school smiling, each with a new backpack filled with a complete set of school supplies, and a school uniform. To these children who rarely receive nice gestures, simply having an opportunity to go to school with the necessary school supplies and knowing that someone, somewhere cares enough about them to help them attend this school year is sufficient enough. They do not take things for granted.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible from our donors to our volunteers and those who helped get the word out about our cause.  People like Valerie Lunka from CASA Advocates for Children who generously donated 75 backpacks and clothing, Amy Stanwood who donated the proceeds from the Shop for a Cause Silpada jewelry party, Abe and Jing Adriano from Forex Colorado, Ken Ebuna, Jackie Savoie, and all the friends, family, colleagues and everyone else who have supported Children’s Hope Fund. Your generous donations gave a lot of children a fresh start, you have every reason to be proud of the part you play in bringing about a more just, fair and compassionate world. Education is an effective route out of poverty and having the opportunity to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds is a gift!

I also wish to thank Marlene, Maryann, Annie, Erin, and Hamra for your generous donations of your time and effort and for your ongoing support of our cause.