Do you have a five-cent coin with you now? Please take
it out and have a good look at it.
What do you see?
Well, it’s very small and light, it’s gold, and it has the image of the fruit salad plant on one side and the coat of arms of Singapore on the other.
But beyond what you can see physically, have you ever
pondered its worth?
Like me, you probably never did. In this affluent
country we live in, a five-cent coin is almost of no value. After all, what can it buy us?
Yet somewhere else in the world, five cents can do
much.
According to Children's Hunger Fund, US$0.05 is enough to provide a hungry child a meal (see CHF gift catalog).
Ok, so US$0.05 is about S$0.065, I’ve stretched that a little.
But my purpose
is to get you to see that what appears of little or no value to us can make a big difference to someone else - sometimes, a difference as huge as between life and death.
Image source: CHF
And last month, the
world’s total population has hit the 7 billion people mark. Yet it's estimated that this year, a
startling 6 million children will die from hunger related causes. Just think, 6 million children - that's more than the whole population of Singapore!
Image source: CHF
The problem may seem overwhelming, but if each of us contribute just US$5, we can make a huge enough impact.
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Mother Theresa
What two mom bloggers are doing
Alternatively, here's how you can help - through what many Singaporeans do best - shopping.
Two mom bloggers Pauline and Rachel have come together to do a fund-raising for CHF (in fact, Rachel is the one who initiated this awareness campaign about CHF and the two of them are so humble that they initially didn't want to make known their identities). Together with another friend, they will be setting up stall to sell exquisite and unique hand-made crafts.
Here are the details:
Date: Saturday, 3 December
Time: 2 - 9pm
Venue: *SCAPE
All proceeds from this bazaar event will go to CHF. Look out for a signage that indicates it's a fund-raising activity for CHF.
So if you're in Orchard area this Saturday, swing by *SCAPE to support these wonderful ladies in their effort.
And if you are inspired enough, you can organise a fund-raising activity for CHF too!
Here are some suggestions:
- Bake sale
- Make and sell a product
- Skip a meal (you get to lose some weight by doing good) or a Starbucks coffee and donate the money to CHF
Or if you have a child who has learnt to save some money, talk to him/her to give a little of his savings to help hungry children.
What else can you do?
You can also help create awareness about CHF.
Simply share on your blog any of the information you've read here (or from Rachel and Pauline's blogs),
together with the logo above (just right click and save image in your hard drive).
Appeal for
friends and readers to go directly to this page to
make a contribution. All it takes is US $5.00 for 100 meals for the
children. Of course, it will be great if you can contribute more.
Or you
can also go to this page to make a donation to other areas of needs,
such as disaster relief and orphan care.
If you blog about this or plan to
organise a fund-raising activity, please drop me a note here. Let's encourage
one another to make a difference to those who are in need.
I'll leave you with this quote that I find so meaningful:
"How wonderful it is that nobody needs wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank
About Children's Hunger Fund
Children's Hunger Fund is a
Christian nonprofit organization that works to alleviate the suffering of
children in impoverished regions across America and around the world. Through
strategic partnerships in targeted communities, CHF works to improve the lives
of poor children and their families comprehensively, meeting their physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs.
Since CHF began in 1991, the
organisation has distributed more than $927 million in food and other resources
to serve the needs of more than 10 million children in thirty-five U.S. states
and seventy-two countries worldwide.
Since CHF's inception, an average
of 99% of its total contributions have been used for programs serving the needs
of children.
If you are one of those who
scrutinises a charity's financial statements before making a contribution,
examine the figures here.
