’Tis the season to be generous, and as always, the better-known foundations and more established institutions garner the lion’s share of donations and support.
There are, however, some smaller, quieter nonprofits working hard to promote their respective advocacies that are also in need of your help.
These are just a few of them:
San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly
Run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order founded by St. Jeanne Jugan, San Lorenzo Ruiz takes in the indigent elderly who have nowhere else to go, and provides dignity and a decent home for them in their final years. In the tradition of their founder, the Sisters support the home by begging for donations in cash or in kind.
San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly: 50-B Lancaster St. 1300 Pasay City; tel. 02-88329689, 88322915, 0939-3751362, 0995-5911224; [email protected]
Heart of Music
Started by jazz singer Skarlet Brown (of Put3Ska and Brownbeat Allstars fame), Heart of Music provides assistance to musicians who, more often than not, do not have health insurance during medical emergencies.
Heart of Music, tel. 0916-3624596; www.skarletbrown beat.wix.com/theheartof music; Facebook @heart.ofmusicorgphilinc
Art Relief Mobile Kitchen
Started in 2013 by documentary photographer Alex Baluyut and partner Precious Leano, Art Relief Mobile Kitchen provides food aid to people displaced by natural and man-made calamities, such as typhoons, earthquakes and armed conflicts.
Art Relief Mobile Kitchen: tel. 0917-8288690; Facebook @artreliefmobilekitchen
Visual Arts Helping Hands Foundation
A nonprofit for visual artists run by visual artists, the Visual Arts Helping Hands Foundation provides assistance to visual artists in need during medical emergencies, including mental health crises. It raises funds by holding art exhibits, the proceeds of which go to a medical assistance program.
info@visualarts helpinghands.org
Natasha Goulbourn Foundation Mindstrong
The Natasha Goulbourn Foundation was established in 2007 to address the growing mental health crisis in the Philippines. Its primary vehicle is Hopeline, a 24/7 suicide prevention hotline manned by volunteer counselors that mostly young Filipinos experiencing depression and other emotional crises can turn to.
Funding by the Department of Health for Hopeline ended in June this year, and the foundation changed its name to Natasha Goulbourn Foundation Mindstrong and is now seeking alternative sources of funding in order to continue its operations.
Natasha Goulbourn Foundation Mindstrong: www.ngf-hope.org. People in need of help can contact Hopeline at: tel. 8804-HOPE (4673), 0917-558-HOPE (4673), 2919 (toll-free number for all Globe and TM subscribers)
Cara Welfare Philippines
Not an animal shelter, Cara Welfare Philippines facilitates the rescue and adoption of dogs and cats in need, provides spaying and neutering and veterinary care. Run entirely by volunteers, the nonprofit depends on donations to maintain its operations.
Cara Clinic: 175 Lopez Rizal St. corner Samat St., Mandaluyong City; tel. 632-85323340, 0919-5790047; [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation Inc.
Founded in 2006 by Inquirer president and CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, Gifts and Graces is a social enterprise that helps underprivileged communities by helping them develop, promote and market artisanal crafts and products through participating stores, kiosks and bazaars.
By so doing, the foundation enables such communities to build a sustainable livelihood for its members.
Information on where you can avail of these products can be found on their website, and @gngfairtrade. (This season, some of them can be found at Presente, an @artefinoph pop-up until Dec. 30, at the R1 level of Power Plant Mall, Rockwell.)
Philippine General Hospital Ward 9 and 11
The two pediatrics wards of Philippine General Hospital serve the children of poor families and are perpetually overstretched and underfunded, short of critical medicines and medical equipment.
Donations can be made to Philippine General Hospital Medical Foundation Inc., tel. nos. 8536-2874, 8567-4272, 8554-8400 local 3061.
