Packing for the 5th Distribution

Leah, Angie and other volunteers already packed about 6,882 writing materials last December 22 for the 5th distribution. Leah and Angie are two bloggers from Davao City who have always been supportive of this project. POHD is very grateful to have them in the team.

Pics by Leah and Angie.

Pinoy Forumers Society Supports POHD

Thank you Pinoy Forumers Society for supporting Pens of Hope in Davao.

Pinoy Forumers Society is an organization of Overseas Filipino Workers and OFW aspirants, formed and organized through the former POEA Message Board in September 2008 with sole objective of extending help to our compatriots and chosen beneficiaries.

For more details about this organization, please click here.

Here are some pictures taken when they bought the writing materials.

Again, thank you very much!

One Pencil. One Runner. One HOPE

Reposted from this site. Thanks to Maridol, Jen and all the runners who donated.

***

“If we could ask 100 runners bring one pencil each, there will be 100 pencils for 100 children.”

That was what Que and I had in mind when we first discussed the possibility of having the Takbo.ph community and inviting runner friends to support Pens of Hope in Davao. We were proven wrong though…. BIG time!

Give hope. Inspire others. Share your blessings. Encourage learning. Be involved!

- Pens of Hope in Davao

The simplicity of the project and what it advocates for got me hooked back in 2009. One person, one pencil, one child, one dream. On 20th August, Jen posted on her FB page a call for support in the collection of pencils and other writing materials. I immediately sounded it off to Que, and Coach Pojie (who, to this day I am still thankful- for inviting me to join his Feed and Give Project 2 when I was still a newbie). I wasn’t let down with their replies. Both were enthusiastic about the project and pledged support. Que said that she’ll try to get Takbo.ph involved, I didn’t doubt her, but I never thought it’ll be anything like this….

Runners get involved!

I checked the party thread and was just amazed at the pledges from all who signed up to attend. My thoughts, “One of the best Christmas gifts ever!”

There will be something to send the children of Davao come Christmas. I was pretty sure of that. I’ve witnessed, in the few months that I’ve been a part of this running community, it has not yet failed in coming and seeing a project through.

Fast forward to 16th December. Arrived with Jen (Pens of Hope) and this was what greeted us at the registration area.

From the runners with love... and not even half of it! (Photo: Carlo Serrano)

I greeted Que and she immediately told me that there are more bags under the table… she was not joking. And as more runners arrived for the party, the pile just kept getting higher and higher and higher. It wasn’t just one pencil per runner, it was dozen and dozens of pencils and other writing materials per runner.

I distinctly remember my conversation with Marga:
Me: This is just so overwhelming… thank you so much!

Marga: You doubted?

Me: No, I just didn’t expect it to be this much.

Jen was speechless, she was looking at the growing pile and shaking her head in disbelief as more attendees line up to put their “gifts”, and kept saying “unbelievable.”

The pile just kept on growing....

(Photo: Doc Marvs)

"Thank Yous" from Jen (Pens of Hope; uy, bawal umiyak!) with Jinoe (Takbo.ph)

(Photo: Doc Marvs)

After the party, we packed everything and while doing both Jinoe and Que kept on saying, “Here’s another bag” or “There’s more here”. In the end (or not) there were 13 BIG – FULLY packed bags of pens, pencils, crayons, paper and other stuff!!!!! Yes, stunned again!!! But wait, there’s more! Coming down to the building lobby, we heard Timmy talking to someone and saying, “Just wait here, the pencils are coming down.” And there was Jhuvy waiting with two more bags of pencils and writing stuff. Jen couldn’t believe her eyes. hahahaha!

I’ve always believed that the running community has and boasts of having the most self-less and giving people – those who would help without question and/ or having to ask twice. Small and big acts of kindness and generosity, runners giving back and paying it forward – even to those who they do not know, actions that keeps us grounded and reminds us that – there really is good in everyone – that we can make this world a better place with our collective effort – that we can do something. Last night, that belief was further cemented. Thank you so much!!!

Photos courtesy of Carlo Serrano and Dr. Marvin Opulencia. Thankies!

P.S. The author is not from Davao.. lol after being asked last night so many times. Jen is the one who hails from Davao.

Buy a Postcard, Pay It Forward Entry

After the success of Buy a Postcard, Pay It Forward, a fundraising project of Beyond Art’s Sake where photographers volunteered to have their favorite photos printed into postcards and sold to benefit Tsinelas Association, Inc. comes Buy a Christmas Card, Pay It Forward. This time, digital photographers and graphic artists are encouraged to share their photos and artworks in digital format to be printed into Christmas cards. Proceeds from the sale of the Christmas cards will be given to two non-profit organizations that help promote children’s rights to quality education and social justice: Tsinelas Association and Children’s Legal Bureau. This project also serves as a good venue for photographers and graphic artists to showcase their talent.

Project Proponent: Beyond Art’s Sake

Beneficiaries: Children’s Legal Bureau, Inc. and Tsinelas Association Inc.

Mechanics:

1. Any interested digital photographer and graphic artist is welcome to join.

2. Only one entry is allowed per artist.

3. Photographers and graphic artists should work around the theme: “Peace.Hope.Love.Children.Christmas.”

4. Entries should be in digital format, not lesser than A5 1748x2480 300dpi.

5. Entries will be posted in Beyond Art’s Sake Facebook page, album title: Buy a Christmas Card, Pay It Forward. Please add Beyond Art’s Sake in your Facebook page.

6. There will be two categories: Photography and Graphic Arts – all digital.

7. Beyond Art’s Sake will choose only twelve (12) digital photos/artworks based on the number of “Like” they will incur. Six (6) entries will be chosen for photography and six (6) for digital graphic art.

8. The digital photos/artworks with the most number of “Like” will be printed on Christmas Cards and sold in various establishments in Cebu City. Proceeds will go to Tsinelas Association and Children’s Legal Bureau, two non-profit organizations that promote children’s rights.

9. The photographers and graphic artists who will submit entries shall retain ownership of their photos/artworks.

10. Submit your entries to beyondartssake@gmail.com . Please include the following:

Subject: Buy a Postcard, Pay It Forward Entry

Name of Artist

Medium

Short description of your entry by completing this: “Christmas is…”

Webpage (or website where you post your photos/artworks)

11. The top twelve entry contributors will receive tokens from the organizers.

12. Entries should be submitted on or before November 14, 2010. All entries will be uploaded at the same time on November 15, 2010. Voting will begin on November 15 - 20, 2010.

If you have further queries, please email us at beyondartssake@gmail.com , leave a comment or text 09167970140.

Distribution in December

Hi guys, we plan to distribute this december. Please keep the pencil donations coming for our beneficiaries. Thank you so much for supporting ^.^. Kit will give advice in terms of who will be our December beneficiary is as she is in charge of that in cooperation with SICO. Update you all soon!

ITF-Davao Supports Pens of Hope-Davao

Thank you International Taekwan-do Federation - Davao City for supporting Pens of Hope Davao. Also, Congratulations to Mr. Ryan Cordero, ITF 1st Degree Blackbelt, for winning in the Blood Kompak, MMA Division last August 20, 2010.

Thank you Jennifer and Dennis Buckley!

A couple from Las Vegas, Mr and Mrs. Dennis Buckley, donated tons pencils and eleven (11) boxes of crayons. Thank you so much!

Mrs. Jennifer Buckley

Pencils

Pink Pencils

Blue Pencils

Barbie Pop Up Pencils

Pencils and Crayons

Photography by Angie

Thank you Davao Bloggers and Avatar Media!

l

Kadayawan Event of Davao Bloggers and Avatar Media last Aug 20, 2010 held at Jose Rafael Fine Coffee was a success! It was overwhelming how Davao bloggers supported and donated many pencils and art materials for Pens of Hope Davao. Pens of Davao will have two major distributions every year. One in September and another in December.

For donations send your pencils and artworks to this address:Blk38 Lot10 Pujada Dr. Cor Jolo St. Vincent Heights, Damosa Davao City 8000 Philipines.

Thank you guys!

Donated Pencils

Photo by Chatee

Davao Bloggers and Avatar Media
Photo by Angie Maestrado

Davao Bloggers
Photo by Chatee

Andres, CEO of Avatar Media with Angie Maestrado
Photo by Chatee

Davao Bloggers Officers
Photo by Chatee

@San Rafael Fine Coffee
Photo by Chatee

Avatar Media and Davao Bloggers Partners with Pens of Hope Davao

Avatar Media and Davao Bloggers

will be holding a Kadayawan Event on August 20, at Jose Rafael Fine Coffee.  As a sign on goodwill they will be collecting pencils for Pens of Hope Davao.  So if you have donations or pencils and/or artworks, please drop by Jose Rafael Fine Coffee and look for Davao Bloggers President, Ms. Ria Abella Jose.  They will be at the venue for their event starting at 8pm.

Announcement by Avatar Media and Davao Bloggers:
http://www.avatar.ph/2010/08/avatar-media-partners-with-pens-of-hope-davao/

Davao Bloggers

Avatar Media is encouraging all the attendees, guests, and sponsors of the Kadayawan Bloggers’ Networking Event to bring pens, pencils, and crayons for the beneficiaries of Pens of Hope. You may also bring other school supplies for Pens of Hope and their beneficiaries.

The event is on August 20, 2010, 8 pm at the Jose Rafael Fine Coffee. 

We are hoping you can join us in this project and at our event. See you!

PENS OF HOPE 3rd Distribution

by ANGIE MAESTRADO
A recount of her experience on a pencil distribution day ^.^

Beneficiaries

Pens of Hope in Davao is an outreach program initiated to help address the scarcity of writing materials in the Philippines, particularly in Davao City. The idea, which was originally conceptualized by Nortehanon, a blogger from Northern Samar, is now being implemented by the alumni and existing volunteers of Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO), the social arm of Ateneo de Davao University.

And Beyond Art's Sake CEBU) is a movement to bridge the gap between artists, art lovers, and charitable individuals; making art accessible to everyone regardless of financial, social or cultural background. It is a space in the World Wide Web where artworks of amateurs and professionals are placed side by side, towards a common goal of fostering charity, one artwork at a time. It is a group of individuals who are willing to share their time, effort, and resources to give artists a venue to share their artworks, in any form, for the benefit of our countrymen in need.One of the projects they support through art is Nortehanon's Pens of Hope. Many artists contribute their drawings, sell them to art lovers and use the proceeds in buying writing materials. See All the artworks.

And Me as ONE of the volunteer of PENS OF HOPE DAVAO. Come up the idea to sale NECKLACE,BANGLES,EARRINGS,DRAWINGS to support the ADVOCACY.

3rd day of Pencil Distribution

Angie and Dan

And Now with the long time vision of mine to emerge this project with LEAH VALLE of http://www.13thwitch.com/.
This vision becomes reality last July 17,2010
http://www.13thwitch.com/2010/07/aug-17-outreach-activity-of-tybs.html

And some of this picture was used in Sunstar DAVAO.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao
as the PENS OF HOPE DAVAO Project featured in the said leading local News Paper here in Davao.

Share your BLESSINGS be INVOLVED. ^_^

GOD BLESS US ALL... ^_^

DZUP promotes Pens of Hope Davao

Edge Uyanguren

Thank you to Edge Uyanguren for giving me an opportunity to promote Pens of Hope Davao in DZUP last July 27, 2010.  DZUP is UP Diliman's official radio station.  It's coverage reaches the whole of metro manila and around the world via live streaming on the internet.

Edge Uyanguren also expressed his support in helping this campaign and is actively collecting pencils for Pens of Hope Davao.  If you wish to send your pencil or artwork donations and you are around metro manila, you can send it to the DZUP radio station and they will gladly accept it for us.

To contact Mr. Edge Uyanguren for your pencil donations, pls email him at edgie0124@yahoo.com or reach him in his mobile, 09223651748.

Edge Uyanguren was the President of the Ateneo de Davao's Student Council and is the President of UGAT and ATNA (Ateneo's theater group).  He is currently a freelance director and scriptwriter, and Dulaang Atin's Director/Consultant.

Kasali Ka radio segment

with DZUP radio family

Compass Rose donates108 Pencils to Pens of Hope Davao

Donated by Compass Rose, NC

108 Pencils were donated last July 26, 2010 by Compass Rose, NC.  Three boxes of unsharpened pencils were directly given to Ms. Leah Valle from a supporter in the US.  Pens of Hope Davao extends its heartfelt gratitude to Compass Rose, NC for the company's support to this advocacy campaign.  After the first activity last July 17, many people have expressed their support and are now actively garnering pencil donations for the group.  This includes Mr. Edge Uyanguren of DZUP, official radio station of UP Diliman, Avatar Media and Davao Bloggers via Ria Jose, Ms. Glennis Suminguit, and Mr.Henry Stuart.

Visit Pens of Hope Official Website.

  For inquiries please email us at pensofhopeindavao@gmail.com, leahvalle@gmail.com, or kitkitavenue@gmail.com.
For our supporters outside the Philippines who would like to donate, you can do so via Paypal. Thank you ^.^

Aug 17 Outreach Activity for the benefit of Pens of Hope Davao of TYBS Winners

We were privileged enough to meet people who are willing to extend not only hopes and dreams but also time and effort, as well as share the same vision of the advocacy campaign of Pens of Hope and Beyond Art's Sake.  Last July 17, we held a get-together of people who will play a possible important key role in making this vision a reality.  Everybody brought chips and other foods to share as a start of the the practice of giving.  It takes time and practice to cultivate the habit of giving without any second thoughts and we hope to instill int he minds and hearts of the people we touch through our activities "that a small act of kindness goes a long way".

We were privileged enough to meet people who are willing to extend not only hopes and dreams, but also time and effort, as well as share the same vision of the advocacy campaign of Pens of Hope and Beyond Artsake.  Last July 17, we held a get-together of people who will play a possible important key role in making this vision a reality.  Everybody brought Chips and other food to share, as a start of the practice of giving.  It takes time and practice to cultivate the habit of giving without any second thoughts and we hope to instill in the minds and hearts of the people we touch through our activities "that a small act of kindness goes a long way".

Angie and Green Jade with donated pencils

TYBS Contestants

Outreach Actvity

Sketches for a Cause

Beyond Art's Sake Movement, in coordination with Tsinelas Foundation, has contributed a lot to Nortehanon's Pens of Hope project in Samar. Last December, they also donated writing materials for the distribution in Davao. This time, they will be selling sketches for the daycare kids at Barangay Sawang Calero in Cebu City.

Help us spread the word.
Grab this poster and blog this project!

This time, the proceeds will be used to buy pens, pencils and art materials for the Art Therapy Workshop volunteers and local artists will do with the kids in the barangay. So if you buy a sketch, it means you help address the scarcity of writing materials in the Philippines, you help a child develop his artistic skills, you support local artists and of course, you can keep a work of art. Isn't it cool to be hitting four birds at the same time? :)

Sketches will be sold at Turtle's Nest, Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City on May 19, 21, 26 and 28. You may peek at the drawings at http://tinyurl.com/fb-pensofhope.

A Skyscraper of Pencils

Dennis and Jennifer Buckley, a couple from the USA spelled kindness by donating about 150 writing materials, 4 boxes of crayons and a ream of paper to Pens of Hope project this month. Jennifer is the supportive elder sister of Angie, one of the artists/contributors of Beyond Art's Sake movement. Angie's loyalty to the project has always been heartwarming and inspiring for the other volunteers.

Thank you Mr and Ms Buckley!

With the remaining writing materials, the donation will be distributed to the children of Gaisano Relocation, Matina Pangi, Davao City on May 17, 2010. If you remember, this community was the first beneficiary of the project. To read the community's profile, click here.

Marahan Community

Marahan Gawad Kalinga children

Pens of Hope in Davao donated some pencils to the children of Marahan District, Davao City through the Gawad Kalinga project of the Couples for Christ in the said area last December 2009. Though no volunteers were present during the distribution, this simple act of giving never failed to paint a smile on children's faces.

More pictures here.

Loving is Sharing

Pens of Hope in Davao got featured in Sunstar on its January 6th issue. Seth delos Reyes, a photographer/writer of the said publication visited the third distribution last December 28 and thought of helping this cause by coming up with an article about it. It surely was a great way of encouraging people to reach out to others in their own simple ways.

Sir Seth, we are very grateful for this big favor you did for this project. Many thanks to Angie as well for all the photos she contributed to the article.

The Third Big Day

If you can't imagine how pens and pencils inspire children...

just look at their smiles.

The Beneficiary

Having been one of the beneficiaries of the Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO) of the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) in their feeding program, Barangay 31-D was selected as the beneficiary for the third distribution of Pens of Hope in Davao. It is an urban poor community with a population of 7,860 located in Boulevard, Davao City.

Barangay 31-D, Boulevard, Davao City

According to their Barangay Secretary, Chona dela Cuesta, about 60% of the population are under extreme poverty level. Because many of the residents are laborers, drivers, carpenters, fishermen and workers earning below the standard minimum wage, average income of each family ranges from Php 3,000 - 4,000. Due to financial constraints, many children lack school materials and some even drop out of school.

The Distribution

The alumni and existing SICO volunteers welcomed about 130 children at 2:30 in the afternoon on the rooftop of the Barangay Hall on December 28, 2009. After the opening prayer led by Karl Pregon and opening remarks given by Jeremiah Caballero, Ianne Aquino facilitated several games for the kids. Though the venue was a bit small and the weather was hot and humid, the children still energetically played...

Hep Hep, Horray!

Hala Utong

Paper Dance

Bring Me

The donated coloring materials were used as prizes for the impromptu art contest. The ten interested kids chosen to join the contest were given a piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser and were instructed to illustrate what Christmas means for them. Dan Guillano of Beyond Art's Sake and Angie Maestrado, a Davao-based artist/blogger served as the judges of the contest.

Entries for the Art Contest

When pens and pencils were distributed after the games, every face bloomed happiness. It was a kind of expression brought not only by the material gifts but also by the kindness that still exists in this world. Donating writing materials may seem a very simple act but for children who are deprived of this basic need, it already means a perfect Christmas present.

Beneficiaries waving their pens and pencils

To end the program, the children cheerfully sang 'Salamat' for all the donors who in their own ways have brighten the spirit of Christmas. They also received snacks before they were sent home.

Ang nagsindi nitong ilaw

Walang iba kundi ikaw

Salamat sa liwanag mo

Muling magkakakulay ang pasko

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to all those who never fail to support our project

• To all our donors for being generous enough to donate pens and pencils to our beneficiaries. (See list here.)
• To SICO for identifying the beneficiary.
• To Barangay 31-D officials for allowing us distribute writing materials in their community.
• To Jeremiah Caballero, Barangay 31-D SK Chairman, for coordinating with the barangay officials.
• To Seth delos Reyes of Sunstar Davao for dropping by and taking a few pictures.
• To Ana K, JP, Rohel, Mabelle, Jen A and Sham for helping in the collection of writing materials.
• To all volunteers (Ianne, Cark, Laurice, Diana, Hazel, Karl, Charmaine, Jeremiah, Dan, Angie, Kikit, Lorna, Liyah, Mailah, Ping and Step) who were present during the distribution.

Pens of Hope in Davao Volunteers

More pictures here.
MARAMING SALAMAT PO!