PROJECT 18 - DONATIONS

Hello everyone! Just wanted to remind any of those who may not be aware .. to your right you'll see a 'blurp' of words. These are keywords that you can click to find coinciding posts. If you click 'project 18' you'll be able to view posts relative to our charity work. There you can see a list of items we are able to send as well as details into how it all works. None of this will be possible without your financial assistance, though. When you click the "Chip In" box it is very simple to enter your debit or credit information and donate any amount. $1 can truly go a long way if enough of you decide you have time to do so. After your donation you have the option to retrieve a receipt as well. There is no requirement to register for anything. If you have an existing PayPal account you may use that as well. Please think about helping our cause. Thank you!

PROJECT 18 - Donations

I thank everyone who has come to check out this blog. For anyone interested in making a money donation you can click the Chip In button to the right and truly, if you can give $1 that is $1 closer to our goal. You can use credit and/or debit. This would help so much and we would greatly appreciate it. If you would feel better donating with a check or money order feel free to leave your email address in the comments and I will email you my address. Anything helps!

A special thanks to my 'Christians Like Me' friends who have been sharing this blog and bringing in readers. Thank you all!

PROJECT 18 - UPDATE

PROJECT 18 is an effort to provide the people of Pangasinan with clothing, medical supplies, information pamphlets on childcare and breastfeeding, school supplies, towels, footwear, toys and small luxuries like jewelry, watches, etc. Cargo Plus will send 1.5' by 2.5' boxes to Pangasinan for $95, $85 if they're having a sale and for possibly less as this is a charity. We've set our goal for $95 for one box and with continued donations we can increase shipments. This is a flat fee so the weight of the package does not matter. Please help us in raising this money. We've received $5 as you can see from our Chip In box. If we could have 90 people to give $1 we'd meet our goal!! Please join our effort!! Even better, the more people donate the more boxes we can send over!

Items Needed :

TSHIRTS - men, women, children
LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS - thin cloth, for men, women, children
PANTS/SHORTS - men, women, children
SHOES/SANDALS/SNEAKERS/SLIPPERS - men, women, children
CHILDREN'S TOYS
SCHOOL SUPPLIES - pencils, paper, notebooks, folders
MEDICAL SUPPLIES - medicine, medical equipment, gauze, tape, etc (expired items as well)
TOWELS - bath towels, hand towels, washcloths
UNDERWEAR/BOXERS - men, women, children
SOCKS - men, women, children
OTHER - jewelry(obviously not a necessity but something that would be greatly appreciated), watches

PROJECT 18 - Update

So I was a little off on the box size, it is about 1.5 feet by 2.5 feet I think. Also, more details on how the shipment would take place. My mom uses a service, Cargo Plus that ships to the Philippines. The cost, as I said before is $95, $85 if there's a sale and she said they may have a larger discounted price for charity.

http://www.cargoplususa.com/

As far as items needed, here is the list I posted before with added items!

TSHIRTS - men, women, children
LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS - thin cloth, for men, women, children
PANTS/SHORTS - men, women, children
SHOES/SANDALS/SNEAKERS/SLIPPERS - men, women, children
CHILDREN'S TOYS
MEDICAL SUPPLIES - medicine, medical equipment, gauze, tape, etc (expired items as well)

TOWELS - bath towels, hand towels, washcloths

UNDERWEAR/BOXERS - men, women, children

SOCKS - men, women, children

OTHER - jewelry

As you can see it does not take much time, $$ or effort to help this cause. All I need are items to send and if you'd like to submit funds that is totally up to you. I can accept paypal. As of right now I have $5 which is 10% of a recent order from on Betty Jane and Company! I will find a way to share where we are at financially. Other than that, if you're reading and have things to give, used or new and in good condition, I hope to hear from you!!

Thank you all!

~Al

PROJECT 18 - Join us in lending a helping hand :)

Susan and I have finally discussed our ongoing project to help those in need. I mentioned before the conditions in the Asingan, Philippines and the lack of access to important information on basic infant care and breastfeeding. We found out through my mom that we can send a package, via an acquaintance of hers that she currently ships through, to the Philippines for $95, $85 if there's a sale and possibly for less since this is charity work. The package/box is pretty large, I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions but around 3x3 feet I believe. The fee is a flat fee despite the weight of the package.

The idea is to package and ship items that could be used in Asingan. For now our first goal will be one box. To raise money we will accept money and 10% of any money I make through bettyjaneandcompany.com I will put towards this! We're very excited to be able to do this. As far as retrieving items to send overseas we will rely on friends and family that are likely to have items they no longer have use for. Of course, if you're reading this and would like to help out in any way we'd love to hear from you! You can contact me at annalisa.tuttle@gmail.com and we can discuss in detail.

Along with items to send, Susan and I will be constructing some sort of brochure or pamphlet with basic infant care and breastfeeding information. Of course we will be referencing reliable sources!! Both Susan and my mother are nurses, as well, and we will be sure to consult with whoever necessary to make sure our facts our straight for this information piece. All of this will be shipped to my cousin Aleli in the Philippines. My mom currently makes shipments to her and has for quite some time. When Aleli receives the package she can immediately distribute items to those in Asingan and there is also a clinic next door to her that has volunteers to assist in distributing information pamphlets we send over. The goal is to distribute the information pamphlets to each household with the hopes that even if they don't directly need the information they may know someone who could benefit from it.

Here are a list of items we'd be happy to send over :
TSHIRTS - men, women, children
LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS - thin cloth, for men, women, children
PANTS/SHORTS - men, women, children
SHOES/SANDALS/SNEAKERS - men, women, children
CHILDREN'S TOYS
MEDICAL SUPPLIES - medicine, medical equipment, gauze, tape, etc

OTHER - jewelry

I still need to talk with my mom to find out other items they could use or that would simply be worth it to have for them (ex. they don't NEED jewelry but they would be grateful to have jewelry if it were given to them)

We would love to hear feedback, ideas or a willingness to help in some way so keep in touch by commenting here or emailing me and we will keep everyone up to date!!

Asingan, Pangasinan, Philippines

Sue and I have been thinking of ways to give to our communities and/or elsewhere. We've discussed many ideas and I think we may have something in the works finally. I've been talking with my mom about her recent trip to the Philippines as well as relating my experiences there. As a result I know there are two things we can do that would directly affect, in a positive way, people in my mother's province.

When we were talking on the phone she mentioned to me that the items Mom Vitale had given me (shoes, clothes) "went right away." Basically, when my mom brings items to the Philippines they are in large boxes. I remember one time being in the Philippines when she opened one. The box was outdoors of the house by the cool, concrete wall. There's a lot of dry dirt, very dusty, floating all around and I remember there being people of all ages, as young as 2 and as old as say 85-90. Everyone's talking and I could pick up a few words here and there but didn't understand anything. I was focusing on how this distribution was going to happen because there was no organization whatsoever. My mom opened the box and at a time when you would think chaos would ensue-well, nothing happened. Everyone around, my cousins, unfamiliar faces, aunties and uncles patiently waited for my mom to begin handing out things and everyone on their own made sure they were not greedy and that everything was equally dispersed. It was actually a very relaxed scenario. For some reason I wasn't assisting in the process but I imagine that I was set back observing everything. I didn't really appreciate what was happening because in my mind I always knew all our clothes we didn't wear anymore were sent here and I saw plenty of my childhood outfits, my dad's clothes, mom's clothes on relatives and complete strangers around me. Well, I have a deep grasp on the little they have there and how important my 10 year old t-shirt is to those in Asingan. Susan and I are in the works of attempting to collect, package and send at least one box this year stocked with clothes, shoes, toys.

Mom also mentioned to me that a relative of mine was having trouble with breastfeeding as well as basic infant care like burping after feeding. Now, it's not that she neglects her daughter, or forgot how to breastfeed. She simply was never taught basic infant care or given assistance in breastfeeding. There are no programs such as Planned Parenthood or just your general hospital providing information unless one was to go seeking the information which not everyone knows how to go about that either. What they need is information to be distributed to households with children or not. This information is pertinent for everyone because if one person directly will not end up having their own children then they can pass the information on to their siblings or other relatives. It's truly devastating for mothers and fathers alike to not have this information in basic care and it's extremely simple to purchase some extra printer ink and paper and make my own brochures to send and have distributed by relatives of mine in the area.

These are ideas in the works. I'll keep you posted on this venture Susan and I working on.

~Al