Dear Friends,


This year we are returning to the Philippines to spend our Christmas holidays. We will be staying near Guiuan, which is on a small island in Eastern Samar, in the Visayas area of Philippines (map here).

As you may know/remember, in 2004 we formed a non-profit organization in the U.S., Help One Future, and raised money to purchase much-needed school supplies. We teamed up with the National Bookstore, local mayors, school principals and teachers in the Philippines to deliver the supplies to over 20 different schools. It was a great experience for us and a tremendous help for some very needy schools. Help One Future is a non-profit organization with a mission to enhance educational opportunities for underserved children in the Philippines.


We have decided to work on a service project this year which will continue the work we started with Help One Future. We plan to focus this time on schools near Guiuan which, like many rural elementary schools in the Philippines, are in desperate shape – often filled with children missing books, desks, and sharing a few pencils between them all.


We are holding a book drive here in Hong Kong, mainly among the large expatriate community. We aim to collect a sizeable amount of books and ship them to the Philippines, where we will distribute them among local schools in the area where we are staying. We are joining with another family with three children of their own who are also excited to help kids who don’t have books. These children are assisting by collecting books from their schools and friends (as well as donating a bunch of their own). I’ll post a copy of the flyer we are using here in Hong Kong for the book drive. In addition, we are raising money to purchase school supplies that we will deliver with the books through Help One Future.


We would like to invite you to join us this Christmas to help the lives of children in the Philippines. We will use all of the money that we raise to purchase school supplies and pay for shipping costs. We are also donating our time, energy and money to coordinate the purchase, shipment and delivery of the books and school supplies.


For U.S. citizens, contributions to Help One Future are tax-deductible; we will provide you with a receipt for tax purposes.


Please visit Help One Future’s website at www.helponefuture.org to donate online, or feel free to contact me to arrange for other payment options. We plan on documenting this project with photos and video, so that you can also share in the experience. Our family is very excited about this opportunity and would love for you to be involved.


Please let us know if you have any questions or want more information.

Also, it would help us get the word out if you link to the Help One Future website on your blogroll!

Have a great day.


Rick and Alicia