Do you want to know more about the causes that are ...



Do you want to know more about the causes that are available at our Alternative Christmas Faire?

If you have ever wondered what the different options were about, here are descriptions of many opportunities that are on our shopping list, plus a few more that you can add if you want to.

Habitat for Humanity

Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity International has built and rehabilitated more than 150,000 houses with families in need, becoming a true world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing.

Koinonia Farm and the Fund for Humanity

The concept that grew into Habitat for Humanity International was born at Koinonia Farm, a small, interracial, Christian farming community founded in 1942 outside of Americus, GA, by farmer and biblical scholar Clarence Jordan. The Fullers first visited Koinonia in 1965, having recently left a successful business in Montgomery, AL, and all the trappings of an affluent lifestyle to begin a new life of Christian service. At Koinonia, Jordan and Fuller developed the concept of “partnership housing” – where those in need of adequate shelter would work side by side with volunteers to build simple, decent houses.

The houses would be built with no profit added and no interest charged. Building would be financed by a revolving Fund for Humanity. The fund’s money would come from the new homeowners’ house payments, donations and no-interest loans provided by supporters and money earned by fund-raising activities. The monies in the Fund for Humanity would be used to build more houses.

An open letter to the friends of Kiononia Farm told of the new future for Koinonia:

What the poor need is not charity but capital, not caseworkers but co-workers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance. The fund for Humanity will meet both of these needs. Money for the fund will come from shared gifts by those who feel they have more than they need and from non-interest bearing loans from those who cannot afford to make a gift but who do want to provide working capital for the disinherited…The fund will give away no money. It is not a handout.

In 1968, Koinonia laid out 42 half-acre house sites with four acres reserved as a community park and recreational area. Capital was donated from around the country to start the work. Homes were built and sold to families in need at no profit and no interest. The basic model of Habitat for Humanity was begun.

Zaire

In 1973, the Fullers decided to apply the Fund for Humanity concept in developing countries. The Fuller family moved to Mbandaka, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). The Fullers’ goal was to offer affordable yet adequate shelter to 2,000 people. After three years of hard work to launch a successful house building program, the Fullers returned to the United States.

Habitat for Humanity International

In September 1976, Millard and Linda called together a group of supporters to discuss the future of their dream. Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) as an organization was born at this meeting. The eight years that followed, vividly described in Millard Fuller’s book, Love in the Mortar Joints, proved that the vision of a housing ministry was workable. Faith, hard work and direction set HFHI on its successful course.

Phenomenal Growth

In 1984, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn took their first Habitat work trip, the Jimmy Carter Work Project, to New York City. Their personal involvement in Habitat’s ministry brought the organization national visibility and sparked interest in Habitat’s work across the nation. HFHI experienced a dramatic increase in the number of new affiliates around the country.

The Results

Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem – decent housing for all.

Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 150,000 houses, sheltering more than 625,000 people in some 3,000 communities worldwide.

Heifer Project International

Heifer animals (and training in their care) offer hungry families around the world a way to feed themselves and become self-reliant. Children receive nutritious milk or eggs; families earn income for school, health care and better housing; communities go beyond meeting immediate needs to fulfilling dreams. Farmers learn sustainable, environmentally sound agricultural techniques.

How Heifer Began

In the 1930s, a civil war raged in Spain. Dan West, a Midwestern farmer and Church of the Brethren youth worker, ladled out cups of milk to hungry children on both sides of the conflict. It struck him that what these families needed was “not a cup, but a cow.” He asked his friends back home to donate heifers, a young cow that has not born a calf, so hungry families could feed themselves. In return, they could help another family to become self-reliant by passing on to them one of their gift animal’s female calves.

The idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for more than 50 years. As a result, families in 115 countries have enjoyed better health, more income and the joy of helping others.

Working to End Hunger & Poverty

Over one billion people will go to bed hungry tonight. With more than 50 years experience, Heifer has a proven approach to helping people obtain a sustainable source of food and income.

Success Stories

Families benefit through Heifer’s approach because they gain a means of producing a steady source of food and income. Project families gain new skills and self esteem from the training and support they receive in caring for their animals. Children have the chance to grow strong and healthy from better nutrition. Many families use income from their animals to educate the children, offering hope for a better future for all.

Community

Heifer works with grassroots community groups, who determine their own needs, and train and prepare for their animals. They also decide who will benefit first from the gift of livestock and how the animals will be passed on to other families.

Environment

To end hunger effectively, food production must be sustainable and kind to the environment. Heifer trains farmers to manage grazing, plant trees and crops and use natural fertilizer in ways that improve the environment.

Women

Heifer funds more than 80 Women in Livestock Development projects, which provide women with food- and income-producing animals, as well as training in leadership, community development and environmentally sound farming.

Anglican Christmas

These are projects that are supported throughout the year by the Outreach Committee of Prince of Peace.

Angel’s Way Maternity Home

Angel’s Way Maternity Home is a place of refuge for unmarried, pregnant women over the age of 18. It is located nearby, in Canoga Park, and can house up to six women at a time.

Typically the women to stay at Angel’s Way have no other support from family or friends. While at Angel’s Way, the women learn to care for themselves and their babies, and to deal with life situations such as balancing a checkbook, budgeting, and planning menus. They may also take classes leading to a GED certificate, or to gaining needed job skills. Counseling is provided during this critical time in their lives, and as a result of counseling, the young woman may choose to keep her child, or to arrange for adoption, if that makes the most sense to her. The women usually stay up to one or two months after their baby is born, but some leave shortly after giving birth.

The home is supported solely by benefactors who answer God’s call to serve Him in this way. Because of the caring and kindness of these benefactors, the people who work at Angel’s Way are able to provide housing, guidance and direction to the young women who come to them. Soon after coming to Angel’s Way, the women are able to see hope for themselves and their previous babies.

If you would like to add your support for Angel’s Way Maternity Home to ours, please make a check payable to Prince of Peace, and put “Angel’s Way Maternity Home” in the memo section. Drop your check into the collection plate, send it to the office, or give it to the person at the Outreach/Scrip table after Sunday’s service.

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Our Little Roses Home

Our Little Roses is a ministry for homeless girls in Honduras, Central America. It began in 1988 in a small rented house with 26 girls. The ministry caught the interest of officials in San Pedro Sula, a city in the northwestern part of the country. They gave land to Our Little Roses on which now live 70 girls and staff and in several buildings and many ministries including a school and chapel. It began with a vision given to Doctor Diana Frade of hope with life-changing dimensions for physically and emotionally abused girls, as well as orphans.

There are no governmental social services or funds for Honduran children who become victims of violence, poverty, disease and oppression. The need was desperate in 1988, and it is even more compelling today. Children are often forced into the streets to fend for themselves when their families cannot or will not care for them. Poverty produces abusive situations for many pre-adolescent girls who are deprived of an education by being kept home to take care of younger siblings, with no adult supervision or oversight.

At Our Little Roses Homes, every girl is given not only shelter but education and love. Uniforms and school fees are provided, and a staff of teachers helps newly arrived girls catch up with their peers. The sense of family at Our Little Roses sustains all the girls, who are active in church. Many are members of the choir, youth fellowship leaders and acolytes.

Our Little Roses Home is one of the residences, this one for girls ages seven to graduation from high school. When a girl comes to Our Little Roses, she is given love, attention and a Christian education. The idea that she is able to do anything with her life is stressed throughout. The girls of the Home are sent out into the community, to one of seven different schools so that they can receive an education that is tailor made to them and their academic strengths.

This home, the first one, was named in memory of Rosa Judith Cisneros (1936-1981), an Episcopalian who worked for social justice in El Salvador, especially as a champion for women’s and children’s rights. She was martyred on the steps of government house in San Salvador.

Mark 10:14 Home is for infants and little girls to age six. This home, named for the passage in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God,” offers a safe place and loving environment for abandoned or abused little girls.

Ginger Buice Transition House is named in honor of the daughter of the Rev. William Buice, who was tragically killed in an accident by a drunk driver just after her graduation from college. This transitional home is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house 1-1/2 blocks from the Our Little Roses compound. The goal of the transitional home is to help the girls who are graduating from high school acclimate themselves to the real world. There is a great deal of interdependence among the girls, who live at the home. The transitional home helps to teach the girls very important lessons about living on their own, although this process is made easier by the fact that the girls were never completely removed from the community attending outside schools and being regular members of church and church events.

The new building being constructed directly behind Ginger Buice will be a two-story apartment building containing 12 efficiency apartments. And again here, just as in the Ginger Buice House, the girls will have to pay a nominal rent and their bills. With these sides to our program, we are able to prepare the graduates of Our Little Roses to live in their community and to not only be able to survive but to flourish, to be the pillars of their communities, and the new leaders of Honduras.

Another adjuncts to Our Little Roses is Holy Family Medical Clinic, located a few blocks from the walled campus of Our Little Roses. Two doctors and one nurse offer medical services six days a week at a very low price. On Saturdays the clinic is free to those who cannot pay. The doctors also organize and lead medical brigades that minister to the poorest of the poor, in the countryside of Honduras. The Holy Family is not only a clinic, but a bilingual school, day care and chapel.

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A Pine Ridge Mission Trip, 2003 – a writeup by Debbie Decker, parishioner of Prince of Peace

Last summer, the pilgrims returned from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation filled with the Holy Spirit. They talked and talked about the work they’d done and the people they’d met, but mostly they talked about what they brought home with them. No souvenirs. No feathered costumes and certainly no money. It was something much bigger and much Holier. Instead of ministering to the poorest of the poor in America, they were enriched by the love of a generous and kind people. This is a place where everyone begins to look at himself or herself through the Gospel and in Jesus. This is what pilgrimage is all about. AND I’VE BEEN CALLED TO GO ON THIS YEAR’S TRIP!

This summer’s pilgrimage to Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota is scheduled for June 27.  The Rev. Robert Two Bulls, Program Officer for Native American Ministries and Michael Cunningham, Missioner for Administration and Mission Congregations, will once again lead this pilgrimage, which is a sponsored youth activity of the Office of Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Los Angeles.  This will be the third pilgrimage they have led together.

 

The work began as the Red Shirt Project when Fr. Robert Two Bulls was the Associate Rector at St. George's in La Canada.  Parishioners at St. George's continue their work to this day, and will be at Pine Ridge the week before the diocesan group doing ongoing work in the village of Red Shirt that they began four years ago. 

 

Red Shirt Table is the village where Robert's family is from...Pine Ridge is the home of his nation, his history and his people.  His father is also a priest of the church; his sister Twyla is the Lay Reader at Christ Church, which is the local Episcopal Church at Red Shirt Table.  Pine Ridge is also the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1892. 

Pine Ridge is, according to the Federal Government statistics, the poorest place in America.  Average life expectancy for adult males is 49.  The highest adult onset diabetes numbers in the nation.  Highest infant mortality rate in the nation… highest unemployment figures...highest alcoholism figures...all the ills of poverty visited among a population of approx. 38,000 gathered in eight villages along the banks of the Cheyenne River and the Wounded Knee River in and amongst the Badlands.  It is also a place where the Episcopal Church has always been...since before it was a reservation, there was the church.  Every village has an Episcopal Church.  There are very few resident clergy...like two. The need is great, the people are incredibly generous and loving...and it is our poverty that is revealed amongst the people, not theirs. 

 

There are 25 of us going (with a few more maybes on the list). We intend to build a skate board park, paint the church, install new windows in the church, build a couple of new outhouses, do a Vacation Bible School, pray every day, worship every day, hold community gatherings with the village, and host a Writer's Workshop at the Pow Wow Arbor the group built last summer.

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St. Vincent Meals on Wheels.

This organization began in 1977, and has since become the largest privately funded meals program in the country. In 1977, Sister Alice Marie Quinn, a Daughter of Charity and Registered Dietitian at St. Vincent Medical Center, saw some seniors’ health decline after being released from the hospital. After identifying a need for senior nutrition services in the Westlake neighborhood surrounding the hospital, Sister Alice Marie began preparing meals for neighborhood seniors in the parish hall of Precious Blood Catholic Church.

By 1987 St. Vincent Meals on Wheels had expanded to serve homebound seniors and adults with serious illnesses throughout Los Angeles, from downtown to West Hollywood. In 1989, to serve clients who prefer to receive a week’s worth of meals at one time, St. Vincent began a frozen meal program. In 1993 a Breakfast Program was added for 200 seniors who had no other way of getting food, and in 1999 St. Vincent Meals on Wheels was certified by the Meals on Wheels Association of America for meeting national standards of excellence.

In 2003, a new state-of-the-art facility opened that has increased their capacity to 5,000 meals per day. In a related project, scheduled for completion this year, a residence will be built, providing 114 apartments for homebound individuals from the St. Vincent Meals on Wheels program who live alone without support from family or other sources.

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Episcopal Relief and Development

Episcopal Relief and Development is a compassionate response of the Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief and Development served to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world.

Episcopal Relief and Development faithfully administers the funds that are received from the Church and raised from other sources. It provides relief in times of disaster and promotes sustainable development by identifying and addressing the root cause of suffering.

Episcopal Relief and Development cherishes its partnerships within the Anglican Communion, with ecumenical bodies and with others who share a common vision for justice and peace among all people.

The organization was established in 1940 by the Episcopal Church in the United States as the Presiding Bishop’s Fund for World Relief. Our mission was to assist refugees fleeing Europe during World War II.

Over the years, its focus has expanded. In 2000, its name was changed to Episcopal Relief and Development to emphasize its ongoing emergency relief work and its growing focus on long-term development and rehabilitation programs.

For more than sixty years, Episcopal Relief and Development has served the needs of the poor and oppressed at home and in over 100 countries abroad.

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Neighborhood Youth Association

Founded in 1906, the Neighborhood Youth Association (NYA) has been a non-sectarian non-profit, serving low-income, troubled youth and families. Having worked with high-risk youth in past years, NYA has redirected its program to address education as the key to an individual’s success.

As we step into the 21st century, NYA’s educational enhancement program, PERSONAL BEST, reflects of the agency’s past accomplishments and new direction. This program is designed to help each child become the best that he or she can bee. They work extensively with youth from low-income families in Venice and Mar Vista, California. Through a comprehensive set of components, PERSONAL BEST serves children and youth from ages two through eighteen, and offers classes and activities for parents.

NYA’s facility, located in Mar Vista, offers after-school enrichment activities for elementary, middle and high school students. Its Venice site, Las Doradas Children’s Center, provides preschool and after-school care.

The top priority is academics throughout the year, with homework first during the school year and educational enrichment in summer. NYA has designed PERSONAL BEST to ensure that every young person will earn a high school diploma and go on to post-secondary education or training.

PERSONAL BEST incorporates four main components:

ACE (Academic/Curriculum Enhancement)

ACE compliments a student’s school curriculum. Activities include academic skills building, computer skills training, tutoring and homework assistance.

PALS (Personal and Living Skills)

This component helps children and youth develop problem solving skills, self-esteem, social and communication skills.

Career Planning

This program exposes youth to a variety of careers, possible employment and post-secondary education opportunities, while emphasizing concrete job readiness skills and preparation.

Cultural Recreation

This component introduces children to a wide variety of arts and recreation through classes, sports, trips to museums, performances and events.

NYA believes that every child deserves a chance to create his or her successful future.

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Wycliffe Bible Translators

Wycliffe Bible Translators, USA, is part of an international association of Wycliffe organizations comprising over 5,000 active members from 46 countries. Within the USA, their role is to provide links for churches here to help build the church around the world and give others access to the words of life.

Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend. A missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala, Townsend caught the vision for translation after Cakchiquel-speaking men expressed their concern and surprise that God did not speak their language.

Townsend resolved that every man, woman and child should be able to read God’s word in their own language. Borrowing the name of the Reformation hero, John Wycliffe, who first translated the Bible into English, Townsend founded “Camp Wycliffe” in 1934 as a linguistics training school. By 1942, “Camp Wycliffe” had grown into two sister organizations, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Today, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Wycliffe Bible Translators work together to translate Scripture, train field personnel in linguistics, and to provide help in translation

Already Wycliffe workers have helped to complete 611 translations, making God’s word available to more than 76 million people. This has always been done hand-in-hand with local communities.

More than 380 million people worldwide still God’s Word in their language. At the past rate of translation, they would have to wait for another 100 to 150 years. Wycliffe’s mission is to assist the church in making disciples of all nations through Bible translation. Their vision is to have a translation in progress among every language group that needs it by 2025, and they are working to make that happen.

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St. Francis Academy

The Mission Statement of St. Francis Academy is to be an instrument of healing for children, youth and families, in spirit, mind, and body, so they live responsibly and productively with purpose and hope.

In 1945 the Rt. Rev. Robert H. “Father Bob” Mize, Jr. founded the St. Francis Boys’ Home based on the philosophy of Therapy in Christ. God blesses this humble beginning in Ellsworth, Kansas. Today, St. Francis serves over 700 clients each day through numerous programs in seven states.

The national headquarters was established in Salina, KS, in 1959, where the previously established second residential treatment center was located. Equestrian therapy was offered at both sites.

Another residential treatment center was located in Lake Placid, New York in 1965, and wilderness therapy programs for boys and girls was established in Salina.

Another residential treatment centers was located in Atchison, KS in 1991, which included a secure treatment for runaways.

In 1992, St. Michael’s Campus in Picayune, Mississippi, opened which included a therapeutic group home for dually diagnosed, developmentally disabled/conduct disordered children.

A community outreach program in Salina, established in 1994, involved partial hospitalization, a day program, and outpatient counseling.

A community-based residential treatment facility for girls was opened in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in 1995. The same year a facility was opened in Espanola, New Mexico, providing case management, outpatient therapy for individuals, families and groups, and intensive home-based services.

An on-campus school was established in Salina in 1996, and another organization in Hayes, Kansas, worked with intensive in-home therapy for juveniles. A family foster care facility was opened in 1997, along with other facilities in Hamilton and Dayton, OH.

The Bacot Home for Children was established in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and other facilities were provided in Philadelphia, in 1998, and the next year construction of three assisted living complexes for developmentally disabled/conduct disordered adults were begun in Picayune, Mississippi. In the following years additional programs were added in Texas, New Mexico and California.

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Five Talents

Five Talents provides micro-credit loans to individuals in developing countries. Microenterprise development focuses on job creation through small-scale enterprises. It provides poor entrepreneurs with training and loan capital to start and expand small businesses. It is financial services to the poor, who, with just a little money, can begin to break out of poverty.

Microenterprise development is proven to be an efficient and effective method for fighting poverty and raising up entrepreneurs in developing countries. Where grants and giveaway programs have failed, Give Talents has provided platforms for long-term growth and stability.

By teaching basic financial principles and general business training before providing loan capital, Five Talents ensures that the entrepreneurs and their communities benefit now and in the future.

Those involved in such programs say this is a practical and sound approach to fighting poverty where local banks cannot afford the costs associated with lending small amounts of money to many microenterprises or offer loans to clients who can provide little or no collateral.

Five Talents has been in existence for eight years, and has operated in 1 4different countries. It is an Anglican agency currently working in Indonesia, Philippines, Uganda, Kenya and Peru.

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St. Barnabas Senior Services

For over 100 years, St. Barnabas Senior Services has been serving aging and impoverished people residing in the urban center of Los Angeles.

Founded in 1908 by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, St. Barnabas Senior Services (SBSS) is today an independent, nonsectarian, nonprofit public benefit corporation, and the oldest senior service agency in Los Angeles. Over the last century, our presence expanded from a basement in a small church mission to an award-winning leader offering models for healthy aging that are recognized nationally and internationally.

SBSS services one of the most ethnically diverse, low income, and densely populated areas in Los Angeles, which includes Chinatown, Koreatown, Filipinotown, and a major Hispanic population around the greater MacArthur Park/Westlake area. Typically its clients are in their mid-70s, live alone, depend on Social Security of $800 monthly, have few relatives or friends to provide assistance, and speak minimal English. The multi-ethnic, multi-lilngual SBSS staff and volunteers mirror the culturally diverse population that they serve, with proficiency in over a dozen languages. Nearly 30% have been with SBSS for more than 10 years, and many have received awards for their exceptional services to the community.

SBSS provides a continuum of care that promotes healthy aging, prolongs independence, and enhances the dignity of seniors. Operating from 10 locations in the downtown Los Angeles area, including a multipurpose center, adult day and health care center, six congregate meal sites, and two senior housing complexes, its key programs and services include Social Services, Nutrition, Adult Day Services, Transportation and Wellness and Fitness.

Adult Day Health Care (ADHC): The ADHC specializes in the care of people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, as well as chronic health problems requiring supervision and assistance. The ADHC adult day health care center enables participants aged 18 and older, who are physically or mentally impaired, to live at home rather than in a cost-prohibitive nursing home or an assisted living facility. The ADHC provides medical monitoring, meals, therapy, recreation and socializing, personal hygiene care, and transportation.

Adult Day Program (ADP): The ADP is designed to improve the physical and mental health of adults aged 62 and older, with the ultimate goal of helping them maintain their independence. This program provides social and recreational activities, such as physical exercise, therapeutic art, music and dance, and intergenerational activities. Delicious meals and snacks are tailored to meet the participant’s dietary needs.

Transportation: The transportation program at SBSS is an essential program that keeps our seniors independent and aids our client caregivers. Receiving medical care, or attending to appointments and shopping, depends on the availability of affordable transportation, but also on the reliability of a driver who will be on time, sensitive to the needs of the senior, and willing to assist the senior door-to-door. SBSS has a team of professional drivers specially trained to assist seniors. This “door-to-door” transportation program is for seniors, age 65 or older, or for those who are younger than 65 years old, but who are physically disabled. SBSS transports these qualifying groups of riders who live in its 15 square-mile service area to appointments, for a medical visit, to shop, or simply for an outing of fun. If an escort is needed to accompany the rider to offer assistance, room is always made for them. The vans are equipped to accommodate wheelchair-bound participants as well.

Wellness and Fitness: SBSS is virtually unique in the nation with its award-winning Cyber Café, an inviting technology center that provides access to computer literacy and the internet for seniors. Its computers are programmed in over 200 languages to accommodate the multi-ethnic users. The seniors use the Cyber Café to learn computers one-on-one from volunteers, engage in self-teaching, and to apply their skills by emailing loved ones, playing stimulating games, reading periodicals in their native language, researching medical information, shopping online, and much more. By addressing the technological needs of senior Angelenos, the Cyber Café enables seniors to stay connected to family and friends, access health and other information in an economical way, reduce isolation and depression, stay mentally stimulated, and function independently. Equally important is the Café’s social component, in which computer users and non-users are encouraged to share coffee and pastries in the stylized mid-century French café atmosphere.

Medical Clinic: A certified medical doctor, who has specialized in gerontology for over 20 years, provides low cost medical care to SBSS participants and family caregivers. This medical clinic, located at the SBSS Multipurpose Center, provides care to a diverse population of all ages.

Mental and Physical Fitness, Social Recreation: At the SBSS Multipurpose Center, they offer a rich array of activities that keep seniors active and socially engaged. Each week, classes are offered such as fall prevention, yoga, Tai Chi, English as a Second Language, and Wii – an interactive video simulating various activities such as bowling, golf and tennis. Popular clubs, such as knitting and chess, provide social enjoyment. A well-stocked library is open to the participants, Five days a week, they show a popular movie in their home theater. Outings to museums and cultural events are highlights for the seniors. On a cyclical basis, programs such as Tax Aide, where AARP volunteers provide tax return assistance are offered.

Caregiver Support: SBSS offers educational programs and resources to help family caregivers cope with the challenges they face. Counseling is available for caregivers, including professionally facilitated on-site support groups.

Other organizations and work supported by Outreach include:

Angel’s Way Maternity Home, Canoga Park, CA

Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, Diocesan AIDS Project

Episcopal Church Missionary Community

St. Jude’s Ranch for Children

Pacific Lodge Boys’ Home, Woodland Hills, CA

Episcopal Chaplaincy Program, Los Angeles Hospitals and Prisons

Uganda Missions

Church of the Annunciation, New Orleans, LA

Haven Hills Women’s Shelter, San Fernando Valley, CA

Campus Crusade for Christ

Hillsides Children’s Home, Pasadena, CA

West Valley Food Pantry, Woodland Hills, CA

Alternative Gifts International

History

In 1980 Harriet Prichard, then director of Children’s Ministries at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church in California, wanted to model for the church’s children a new, noncommercial way to give authentic gifts at Christmas. She organized a market in which children and many adults sold relief and self-development goods and animals for persons in need in the Third World as alternative gifts. Cards were inscribed with the gifts purchased and sent to friends and relatives to inform them than an alternative gift was given in their honor. This project was to motivating that other churches soon wanted to conduct alternative markets. In 1981 five churches in the Pasadena area held markets and each year the idea spread to many other churches, schools and community organizations. By 2000 there were 312 markets in that year held in 43 U.S. states. Alternative Gift Markets have also been organized in England, Holland, Japan and Korea. In the course of 16 seasons over fourteen million dollars has been raised for homeless-sick-hungry people and the environment and sent to people in crisis around the world.

Mission

The global mission of Alternative Gifts International is to send authentic, life-giving gifts to a needy wold – gifts that build a partnership with oppressed people in crisis and that protect and preserve the earth’s endangered environment – to nourish and sustain a more equitable and peaceful global community.

A Non-Profit Corporation

AGI is a non-profit, interfaith agency. It raises funds each year for global gifts in its “Alternative Gift Markets” held nationwide and from individual donors. Designated grants then are sent to the established international projects of several reputable non-profit agencies for relief and development. In July, 1986, because of the fast growth of the project, Alternative Gift Markets, Inc. was organized as a 501©3 nonprofit, tax exempt corporation.

Policy on Designated Gifts

It is the policy of AGI that ninety percent of the monies received by AGI for the alternative gifts will be granted to cooperating agencies who in turn guarantee that the funds received will be used only as designated in their established projects. AGI retains ten percent of these funds to pay for its administrative costs.

Opportunities for gifts through AGI, and shown on the Prince of Peace Shopping List, are:

Safe Motherhood Kits – Haiti / Global

Every expectant mother around the world wishes for a safe delivery and healthy baby, but a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth every minute.

For every woman who dies in childbirth, 20 more suffer injury, infection, or disease due to unsafe and unsanitary birthing conditions. That’s 10 million women a year whose lives are at risk, and whose newborn infants also suffer as a result. IMA World Health’s Safe Motherhood Kits™ provide clean and sterile birthing supplies to expectant mothers in areas where infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world. Each Safe Motherhood Kit™ contains essential clean and sterile supplies including gloves, an umbilical tie, scalpel, gauze pads, plastic sheeting, a bar of soap, washcloth, and baby supplies (a hat, tunic, and blanket). IMA also provides education on safe birthing procedures and training on the proper use of a Safe Motherhood Kit™ to ensure the safest birth possible for mother and baby.

$28 provides 1 Safe Motherhood Kit™ to an expectant mother

$110 provides 4 Safe Motherhood Kits™ to expectant mothers

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Wholesome Meals for Haiti’s Children - Haiti

With your help, children can receive the nutritional supplements that they need to be healthier.

In Haiti many children under age five are suffering from malnutrition, especially since the earthquake of January 2010. While school-aged children in Haiti receive one meal each day, there are no supplemental meals for children who are not in school. To meet this urgent need, Partners in Development has initiated a Children’s Feeding Program.

With the help of local medical staff, malnourished children can begin receiving their first supply of nutritional supplements. They then attend the food program Monday through Friday, where they receive a well-balanced meal with protein. After only one month in the program, nearly 100% of children are no longer in danger of being malnourished.

More about Haiti

• Haiti’s population is 9 million people, and it is slightly smaller than Maryland

• The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation.

• Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804

• French and Creole are both official languages of Haiti.

• The currency of Haiti is the Gourde

• Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere

• Haiti lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and is subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts.

$6 provides meals for one child for 1 week

$28 provides meals and nutritional supplements for 1 child for 1 month

* * * * * * * * * *

Sustainable Support for Single Mothers - Vietnam

A micro-loan enabled a woman to start a hairstyling business that supports her family.

Families headed by single women are some of the poorest in Vietnam. Many of these mothers are raising their children in structures made from corrugated metal and woven plant fibers, with dirt floors and no sanitary toilet system. The reasons for poverty are complex and go beyond just limited access to earning opportunities, but also include health, skills, and patriarchal social customs that value men over women.

Empowering Foundations for Women and their Children, a program through Children of Vietnam, provides an effective combination of training, healthcare, housing, and micro-loans to single mothers in Danang and the surrounding region. Support focuses on resolving immediate needs and developing life-long skills that will ultimately lift the family out of poverty.

$28 provides immediate support (Food, milk, medicine, toilet paper) to stabilize a family

$110 provides a micro-loan to purchase trade tools (ex. Sewing machine)

* * * * * * * * *

Mobilize Disabled Children for Education – DR Congo

Parents of disabled children in the DR Congo can rarely afford the special equipment that would enable their children to walk to school.

Congolese children living with disabilities due to polio, paralysis, cerebral palsy, or club feet are less likely to attend school as their limited mobility restricts their access to educational opportunities.

STANDPROUD helps disabled Congolese children attain maximum mobility by crafting leg braces from locally-sourced materials in six brace-making workshops run by their local partner. The agency finances primary education for the disabled children who have received leg braces, about 200 children per year. In the ten years that StandProud has been providing services, over 4,000 children have received life-changing gifts of mobility and education.

$11 provides leather straps for a leg brace

$33 provides one pair of new brace-adapted shoes

* * * * * * * * * *

Medicines for Backpack Healthcare Workers – Burma/Myanmar

One anti-malarial treatment can save the lives of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in Burma.

Among the Karen, Burma’s threatened ethnic minority, 1 in 12 mothers dies as a result of childbirth, while 1 in 5 children dies of chronic diseases before the age of 5. Sixty percent of all children’s deaths are from illnesses easily cured, such as malaria or pneumonia. The Burmese army’s attacks have caused more than 500,000 Karen men, women and children to flee their villages and find sanctuary in isolated jungle locations where they endure disease, malnutrition and indiscriminate violence. Throughout this area, where there is no health care available, Burma Humanitarian Mission has supplied nearly 1 million doses of medicine over the past year to Karen backpack medics. These medics provide emergency trauma care and community health services with two fixed clinics and more than 75 mobile teams. The teams treat more than 200,000 people every year.

$1 provides 40 doses of medicine

$25 provides anti-malarial treatment for 5 pregnant women, saving 10 lives

* * * * * * * * * *

Hopeful Future for Kenya’s Orphaned Children - Kenya

With your help, a destitute street child can gain knowledge and confidence.

Living on the streets, Kenya’s orphaned children have little hope of receiving even a minimal level of education. Many suffer from a host of physical ailments and psychological problems resulting from the loss of their parents due to AIDS. While living on the street many also encounter abuse. Without assistance, they will remain at risk, unskilled and destitute.

Expanding Opportunities provides a multi-faceted approach to educating these children with an assistance program for school fees and uniforms. Additionally, there is a rescue program for girls escaping forced genital mutilation (FGM) and early forced marriages. Expanding Opportunities is able to provide intensive, individualized assistance by building relationships with these children. Since 1997, hundreds have received meals, shelter, security, educational support and long-term loving care.

$27 provides a community workshop to encourage girl-child education and elimination of forced girl marriage

$31 provides uniform, shoes, or share of school fees

* * * * * * * * * *

Anti-Parasite Treatments for Children - Global

Your gift of just one treatment could give an infant a healthy beginning in life.

During the most critical stages of a child’s growth, between 6 and 24 months, a parasitic worm infestation can begin attacking the internal organs resulting in severe physical and mental damage which often leads to death if left untreated. Parasitic worm infestation causes life-threatening infections and stems from unsanitary drinking water and living conditions.

As a result, malnutrition, anemia, stunted physical growth and delayed mental development are prevalent among children in the world’s poorest regions. To address this problem, Legacy of Healing provides anti-parasite treatments for children and families during mass treatment campaigns through partner clinics in targeted populations of the world’s poorest regions.

$6 provides anti-parasite treatment for a family of 5

$30 provides anti-parasite treatment for 5 families

* * * * * * * * * *

Empower Tibetan Girls - Tibet

In a society where a 14-year-old girl is expected to marry and bear children, education provides a new lease on life.

Severely impoverished families in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China cannot afford the tuition to send their daughters to school. Consequentially, the Tongren School of this region is a thriving high school populated mostly by male students. Tibetans are beginning to realize the importance of educating their female children instead of forcing them into an arranged marriage around the age of 14. Angel Covers supports the Mama’s Wish Program, which offers young Tibetan women an opportunity to attend high school where they gain a well-rounded education in math, science, history, English, Tibetan, and other subjects. Since its inception in 2006, the program has graduated 136 girls with a remarkable 70% of them going on to college. The Mama’s Wish Program empowers young women through education.

$42 provides tuition, room, and board for a Tibetan girl for 1 quarter

$42 provides tuition, room, and board for a Tibetan girl for 1 year

* * * * * * * * * *

Give Sight to the Blind - Nepal

The difference between sight and permanent blindness can be you.

In rural villages of India the most commonly deadly disease is spread by mosquitoes. People are Every five seconds someone in the world loses their ability to see. A child goes blind every minute. Perhaps the more important statistic, however, is that 80% of the world’s blind people could see again if they had access to adequate eye care services. In Nepal, there are an estimated 13,500 blind children with roughly 3,300 children blind from cataracts alone. Tragically, the rural poor lack access to affordable eye care that could prevent blindness.

SEVA Foundation provides blind persons with improved outreach, inexpensive medication, and surgery through an eye care program. This program enables approximately four million Nepalis to access eye care through 14 rural vision centers and three eye hospitals in the remote Himalayas. In the past year, 69,000 children received eye exams, and 1,700 children received cataract surgery.

$33 provides one share of equipment, training or outreach for clinic

$110 provides lens implant surgery and medicine for 1 person

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Equip a Clinic & Provide Free Wheelchairs – Chile / Haiti / Peru

When you give the sick medicine you give healing. When you give a disabled person a wheelchair, you give them mobility and independence!

In developing nations like Haiti, Peru, and Chile, an estimated 100 million people need a wheelchair, yet cannot afford one. In addition to suffering from the physical pain and social alienation caused by a disability, many must endure further burdens of crawling on the ground or being carried by loved ones. Furthermore, the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake left almost 1,000,000 people without basic healthcare.

Haiti Healthcare Partners has a volunteer-run clinic providing primary care to over 5,000 people each year. The clinic provides vaccinations to children, pre- and post-natal care to expectant mothers and their babies, and enables doctors to make house calls to patients too ill to travel.

The Free Wheelchair Mission provides wheelchairs for the disabled poor in Haiti, Chile and Peru. As recipients are literally lifted off the ground, they experience renewed purpose, independence and dignity.

$43 provides 1-day medicine and vaccine supply for a clinic

$66 provides 1 wheelchair

* * * * * * * * * *

Save a Forest and Feed a Family – Belize / Honduras / Nicaragua / Panama

Malnutrition and the financial inability to meet their basic needs threaten nearly three million families.

Produce like tomatoes and carrots are considered to be foods only wealthy people can afford, but a lack of access to these nutrition-rich fruits and vegetables contributes to malnourishment in children in Central America. Their meals often consist of only rice and beans. Farming families are desperate to learn ways of growing produce without resorting to slash-and-burn practices that destroy their environment.

Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) provides these struggling families with the materials and training they need so they can grow good while protecting the environment. SHI has provided more than 2,100 families with the seeds and training needed to grow foods such as cucumbers, cabbage and onions, while generating income. Over 90% of the families working with SHI have started organic gardens next to their homes. Children are now getting the essential nutrients they need, and families are able to increase their income by selling excess produce.

$7 plants 10 fruit or hardwood trees on a family’s farm

$17 supports family’s training with field trainer for 1 week

* * * * * * * * *

Create Opportunities with Micro-loans – Northern Uganda

A family was able to open a general store and start a tailoring business with a micro-loan’s help.

The scarcity of employment opportunities in Northern Uganda makes it difficult for the growing population to clothe and feed their families. Many in poverty have ideas for generating income, but don’t have the money or resources to turn their dreams into reality. The average annual income for a Ugandan family is only $300, but new opportunities for economic empowerment are becoming possible through Peer Servants (PS). PS works with partners in the poor regions of Northern Uganda to provide micro-loans for resilient, hard-working people. Many of the entrepreneurs use their profits to better the lives of others in their communities. For example, one seamstress has taught 24 students the trade. Another businessman, born with a disability, employs two disabled women and can now send his children to school. Since 2005, PS has provided over 1,000 business loans in Uganda. Micro-loans are a widely recognized strategy to fight poverty and create opportunities.

$28 provides one share of a micro-loan

$110 provides one start-up micro-loan for a family

* * * * * * * * * *

Training Women for Self-Sufficiency – USA

By giving women in critical transition periods a chance to begin again, they find new direction and focus.

Domestic abuse and unemployment are daily realities for many women across the USA. Organizations that provide job training and social services enable them to secure sustainable, living-wage jobs, support their families and safely transition from poverty to economic self-sufficiency.

La Mujer Obrera (The Working Woman) in El Paso, TX, uses a women-centered curriculum that provides Mexican immigrant women with job training for the 21st century. This innovative approach to education combines community organizing with the creation of economic alternatives and bilingual workforce development.

The Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) in Wichita, Kansas serves women escaping from domestic violence. Since 1997, WIN has been providing survivors of abuse with emotional support as well as educational and employment opportunities that foster healing and self-worth and self-sufficiency.

More about the Issue:

• La Mujer Obrera curriculum includes writing, reading, math & technology/media workshops and project based learning integrated into 20 goal oriented learning modules.

• WIN participants address obstacles to self-sufficiency and remain in the program until schooling is complete with a goal of employment at more than minimum wage.

$9 provides 1 hour of job readiness and life-skills training

$180 provides 1 week of job readiness and life-skills training

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Health and Hope for Orphaned Infants – China

An orphaned infant can thrive when given quality nutrition and unconditional love.

Babies in rural orphanages frequently suffer from malnutrition, anemia, and delayed growth, often resulting in infant mortality. The government of China states that there are over 700,000 orphaned children in this country, an increase of 25% since 2005. According to a recent report, over 200,000 orphans receive no government financial aid. Rural orphanages especially struggle to meet even the most basic needs of their children, and often use watered-down formula or even cow’s milk to nourish infants under 12 months of age.

Love Without Boundaries has been providing high-quality infant formula to orphaned children in China since 2003 with dramatic results. When children are fed high-quality formula, all aspects of their health improve. In addition, specialized formula is provided to orphans with specific needs, such as premature infants and those who fail to thrive, saving the lives of many vulnerable babies each year. Your support will help infants in 14 orphanages.

More about the Country:

• China has a population of 1.3 billion people in an area slightly smaller than the United States.

• China is the world’s fourth largest country

• The climate in China ranges from tropical in the south to sub-arctic in the north.

• The capital is Beijing (12 million people)

• The official language is Chinese.

• The currency is yuan renminbi

$8 provides 1 week of high-quality formula

$110 provides 1 case of high-quality formula

* * * * * * * *

Safe Water for Better Health - Philippines

Access to clean drinking water is a life-saving gift.

Unsafe drinking water is the main cause of life-threatening ailments in children and adults of Villa Corazon, Philippines. A shortage of water also contributes to unsanitary conditions as the inability to maintain toilets or bathe creates and unhealthy living environment. Without an adequate water supply, opportunities to plant vegetables and raise animals for a living are also limited. Additionally, children face daily threats of injury when fetching potable water from sources over long distances or across busy streets.

Outreach International’s Water for Health program is aiming to install five water pumps for public use. This will give the community of 96 families (450 people) sufficient clean water for domestic use. Four complete units will be installed in strategic locations, and one will be placed inside the elementary school. Each pump, which can be utilized by 12-15 families, will counteract health threats and improve their overall quality of life.

$23 provides one share of water pipes

$54 provides safe drinking water for one family

* * * * * * * * * *

Sustaining Lives with Solar Cooking – Tanzania / The Gambia

Solar energy purifies water and cooks food, allowing villages to care for their people and the environment.

In developing countries of Africa, the demand for wood as a fuel for cooking leads to the rapid loss of trees. This loss contributes to the erosion of soil and polluting of waterways. AHEAD (Adventures in Health, Education and Agricultural Development Inc.) works to reduce deforestation by teaching communities how to harness the sun for solar cooking. Solar panel and box cookers can reduce coupled with rocket stoves and “heat retaining ovens” may further reduce the need for wood. Solar cooking helps villages reduce their reliance on wood as a fuel and in turn, reduce emissions of toxic fumes and smoke. With an average of 1,500 people per village, AHEAD is currently teaching individuals in seven villages in The Gambia and four villages in Tanzania to use solar energy to purify water and prepare meals.

$6 provides a water pasteurization indicator

$17 provides one solar oven

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Rescuing Girls from Sexual Slavery – India and Southeast Asia

More than 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade.

More than 2.3 million girls and women in India are believed to be working in the sex industry against their wills. In Cambodia alone, as many as one-third of an estimated 50,000 sex workers are children under age 18. Sex traffickers kidnap, coerce, or promise well-paying jobs to deceive girls, then force them into brothels.

The International Justice Mission’s (IJM) works undercover to rescue victims of forced prostitution in India and Southeast Asia by gathering evidence of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Agency attorneys and social workers then collaborate with local authorities to bring perpetrators to justice. Social workers then place victims in aftercare homes where they receive rehabilitation services and begin to restore their lives. IJM investigations have resulted in convictions for traffickers and freedom for hundreds of girls and women.

$44 provides one day of counseling and life-skills for rescued girls

$77 provides legal representation from IJM lawyers in court

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OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ALTERNATIVE GIFTS INTERNATIONAL:

These are not specified on the shopping list, but can be added at the bottom.

Educate Orphaned Children - China

An orphaned child can have a bright future with the support of a global community that cares.

In the remote area of Northeast China, impoverished children are ovten abandoned, orphaned, or left with family members who are ill-equipped to care for them. These children are found scared, hungry, and living in deplorable situations. Additionally, most drop out of school due to these conditions, perpetuating a cycle of poverty.

Threshold Ministries Incorporated’s (TMI) orphanage, Hope House for Children, opened in 2005 to provide a home, food, love, and a brighter future for China’s orphans in this region through education. Believing that education is the best way to safeguard them from a future of poverty, it is the goal of Hope House to develop a means for self-reliance for each child.

$17 provides annual school fees for one primary school child

$66 provides uniform/textbooks/school supplies for one primary school child for one year

* * * * * * * * *

Literacy for Liberation - Haiti

Giving a gift of literacy can empower people and break the bonds of poverty

Adult illiteracy is keeping the Haitian people in a perpetual cycle of poverty. More than half of Haiti’s adult population is illiterate. In a country where most people are living on less than a dollar each day, funding an education comes secondary to security food and shelter for a family.

Beyond Borders is working to provide Haitians with the basics of learning through reading programs and by assisting communities and churches in establishing literacy centers for adults and children who are too old to enroll in traditional schools. Through these centers, thousands of Haitians have already learned to read, write and develop other skills to break the bonds of poverty.

$11 provides one month of adult literacy training

$140 provides one year of adult literacy training

* * * * * * * * *

Water Rights are Human Rights - Kenya

In the midst of drought, women in rural Kenya spend hours hauling water each day.

Without a centralized system to bring water into the community, women in rural parts of Kenya are forced to carry heavy loads of water great distances, backbreaking work that drains hours of their time each day. This arduous trek often robs women and girls of the chance to go to school, seek other work, and devote their energies to their community’s development. The long walk alone to water sources far from home also puts them at risk of being sexually assaulted.

MADRE and the Indigenous Information Network (IIN) are working with indigenous women to set up pipeline systems that will deliver water to their community and to construct tanks for water storage during the dry season. These measures will safeguard and protect a clean water supply and help to guarantee the human right to water.

$55 provides piping to transport water to a collection point

$330 provides one water tank to store clean water

* * * * * * * *

Advocate for Indigenous Women and Children – Mexico

Even in the poor indigenous communities of Mexico a woman can thrive with literacy training.

Fifty percent of the indigenous women in Chiapas, Mexico, are illiterate and effectively denied any educational opportunities that would allow them to escape a life of extreme poverty. In Chiapas, the poorest state in Mexico, racism, sexism and a lack of resources prevent most of them from continuint their education beyond fifth grade.

Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation provides access to education for the indigenous women of Chiapas through scholarships, literacy training, weekend classes, and workshops on a range of topics from gender equality to self-esteem. Scholarship recipients ensure the sustainability of the program by assessing needs in their own communities and developing projects that will address those needs locally. Extra-curricular help for children, eye exams, glasses, laptops, backpacks, and solar lights for studying are provided also.

Girls attending school and women learning to read create role models that are sadly lacking in indigenous communities, and which demonstrate how an education can build confidence and provide skills for self-sufficiency.

More about Mexico:

• Population: 110 million people

• Capital: Mexico City

• Official Language: Spanish

• Currency: Peso

$44 provides an eye exam and glasses for one woman/girl

$319 provides one year of literacy program for one woman/girl

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Protect an Endangered Community - Rwanda

For environmentally sensitive areas to thrive, the health of people and wildlife both must be protected.

Gorillas in Africa are endangered primarily due to human activities such as poaching and habitat destruction, but disease transmission by humans threatens their survival as well. Rwandans living in areas surrounding national parks where gorillas live have limited access to health facilities and may have to travel long distances through protected gorilla territory to obtain healthcare.

Believing that the health of gorillas and people are inextricably linked, the DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND has established a clinic in the Bisate Village. Aiding this community is critical to protecting the gorillas. In 2010 alone, over 13,000 people benefited from critical health services, 404 pregnant women received prenatal care, 251 women delivered babies at the clinic, and nearly 2,500 children under age five were vaccinated. Although substantial progress has been made, challenges still exist and must be met as helping people thrive ensures that gorillas survive.

$14 provides one week of clinical services (critical, prenatal care)

$55 provides one month of clinical services (critical, prenatal care)

* * * * * * * * *

Bicycles for Rural Healthcare Workers – Namibia / Zambia

Mothers living in rural regions of Africa are forced to take dangerous 12-mile walks to receive healthcare for their children.

Healthcare workers in Namibia and Zambia have an urgent need for bicycles so they can deliver medication and services to those who are too weak or too far from a medical clinic to walk. In a land where greater than 20% of residents are HIV positive, a bicycle can bring the saving care within reach. Nearly 75% of the people affected by disease do not live within reasonable walking distance of a clinic, and in some cases are forced to walk up to 12 miles along a dirt road. Meanwhile in the US and other countries, thousands of bicycles are discarded each year.

Last year, nearly 1,200 bicycles were donated to Bicycles for Humanity, making it possible for rural healthcare workers to provide life-saving care, education, and social services to those who desperately need it.

$36 sends one bike to Africa

$110 sends three bikes to Africa

* * * * * * * * *

Help Kids Stay in School - Myanmar

Parents should never have to choose between feeding their children and educating them.

Rural families in Myanmar are often forced to choose between educating their children or being able to afford life’s necessities. Because food, fuel and medicines take priority, they must sacrifice education at the ultimate expense of their children.

To reduce the costs associated with education, the MYANMAR CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION (MCF) identifies children who are at risk for discontinuing school due to financial hardship. With the help of local monastic schools overseen by monks or nuns, MCF assists these families with costs incurred for school fees, uniforms, curriculum materials and teachers’ salaries. This prevents the most vulnerable children from dropping out of school. When parents are relieved of financial burdens, children can continue to receive an education.

$12 provides one school uniform

$39 provides a school uniform, school bag and curriculum materials

* * * * * * * * *

Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Babies - Guatemala

Babies can be born healthy and safely when a pregnant woman receives prenatal care.

High levels of maternal and child mortality and chronic malnutrition persist in many areas of Guatemala. High-risk pregnancies leading to premature births and severe complications remain a serious threat for both mother and child, especially among pregnant teenagers. This is most problematic for Mayan women in rural areas where the maternal mortality rate is twice the national average and up to 85 of births take place at home with no qualified medical staff present.

Since PCI (previously Project Concern International) began offering services at Casa Materna in rural Huehuetenango, complications and maternal deaths due to childbirth have been significantly reduced. The facility, run by PCI professional staff, has provided more than 63,000 women with culturally-sensitive reproductive healthcare, medical evaluations, delivery services, and support during and between pregnancies to ensure healthy births.

$33 provides ultrasounds for one high-risk woman through pregnancy

$83 provides three days pre- and post-natal care for mother and baby

* * * * * * * * *

Strengthening Families through Healthcare Systems – Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, 1 out of 13 children die before reaching their first birthday and 25,000 women die annually from pregnancy-related complications.

Access to health case is severely limited for most Ethiopians, particularly women and children. In most rural regions, many women travel over six miles on foot to reach a dilapidated and under-staffed health facility. As a result, over 25,000 women and girls die each year due to pregnancy-related complications. More than 500,000 suffer from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

The Hold International Shinshicho Maternal Health Clinic and Family Strengthening Program is located in Ethiopia’s Kacha-Bira District, a poor, rural area of Ethiopia with a population of about 176,000. In 2009 the clinic served over 23,600 patients. Holt’s outreach provides primary health care services by supplying birthing kits to expectant mothers, addressing the immediate needs of women and children, and providing long-term services to ensure family stability.

$5 provides newborn infant supplies

$34 provides one Birthing Kit (plastic sheeting, soap, 2 pairs of gloves, 1 sterile scalpel, 3 surgical cords, 5 gauze squares)

* * * * * * *

Water Security for Farmers – Bolivia

When you provide sustainable water solutions, drought doesn’t have to force a community of farmers into hunger and poverty.

Pasorapa, a community of farmers high in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia, has made an urgent plea for assistance. Droughts from the past two years have led to a near total loss in crops and livestock. Many of Bolivia’s families make their living by farming small plots of land, but a very short rainy season and droughts over the past few years have led to severe losses in income.

MANO A MANO (Hand in Hand) partners with these communities to provide sustainable solutions through water reservoir projects. Where Mano a Mano has constructed water projects, communities have continued to produce crops in dry conditions, and increased their income because they can now grow a greater quantity and quality of produce such as corn and potatoes to sell in city markets.

$29 provides water for crops, livestock and family for one year

$232 constructs and maintains a water pond for one family farm

* * * * * * * * * *

A Billion Trees for Brazil

The Atlantic Tropical Rainforest in Brazil is considered the most endangered tropical forest.

The Atlantic rainforest has been severely degraded by the expansion of agriculture, exotic plantations and ranching. Even with only 7% remaining, it is still one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world, and provides clean water for more than 130 million people in Brazil. The forest is also home to 23 species of primates, 1,000 species of birds and more than 20,000 species of plants, many of them found nowhere else on Earth. Previous efforts to protect the existing forest and to promote reforestation have had a limited reach, with no clear model for achieving the needed large-scale reforestation.

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY has committed to restoring 2.5 million acres of the forest with one billion native trees. The strategies being used include planting seedlings in severely deforested places, and accelerating natural forest regeneration. This broad initiative helps to place these forests on a path to recovery while also protecting wildlife.

$22 plants 20 native rainforest trees

$110 plants 100 native rainforest trees

* * * * * * * * *

Planting Trees – Haiti

The people of Haiti and the nation’s ecology need immediate assistance to recover from tropical storms and the 2010 earthquake.

In the aftermath of four tropical storms in 2008 and the devastation 2010 earthquake, the people of Haiti have experienced greater poverty and starvation. By implementing reforestation programs and teaching sustainable agriculture however, many Haitians are becoming self-reliant.

Haiti Reborn is partnered with the Montfortan Brothers and a local church to support a reforestation program based at the Jean Vincent Education Center in Grepin (outside of Gros Mome, Haiti). The program houses a tree nursery, a garden, an education and retreat center, and a model forest. Seedlings are planted in the model forest at Tet Mon and are also distributed throughout the community. Education programs hosted at the center routinely bring 100-150 local farmers and agricultural experts together for courses in farming techniques and forestry.

$10 plants 12 trees (fruit, coffee, pine, cedar, or mahogany)

$55 plants 130 trees

* * * * * * * * * *

Books for the Joy of Reading - Nicaragua

Placing a book in a child’s hands opens a new world for him or her.

More than 2 million children in Nicaragua attend schools that lack library or reference books. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with nearly 4.6 million of the population living on less than $2 per day. Such extreme poverty restricts the ability of local communities to fully support the academic development of the youth.

TREES FOR LIFE provides books and educational resources to establish or improve libraries in poor Nicaraguan communities. Books for all ages are provided in Spanish at a fraction of the retail cost for a similar book. The goal of Trees for Life is to establish 200 libraries throughout Nicaragua. To date, each of over 50 supported libraries serves communities of up to 15,000 people who realize that literacy is a way out of poverty.

$6 provides one book for a school or library

$30 provides five books for a school or library

* * * * *

Plant Trees and Seeds of Hope – Burundi / Dominican Republic / Haiti / Mexico / Tanzania / Thailand

Providing alternatives to slash-and-burn practices helps these farmers prevent large-scale deforestation.

In many places around the world, desperate farmers have turned to slash-and-burn techniques in an attempt to feed their families. Deforestation, irregular weather patterns, frequent droughts, and few crop alternatives have caused many poor farmers to cut down trees for cooking and heating. While this practice ensures their immediate survival, it has an erosive effect on the environment.

Planting trees is one of the most effective ways to repair the damage caused by deforestation and reverse poverty. PLANT WITH PURPOSE’s unique environmental and agricultural education programs are teaching indigent farmers around the world to plant trees and restore their land. Long-term, large-scale reforestation efforts help farmers and their families improve soil quality, protect vulnerable hillsides, and increase their livlihoods. By building sustainable economies and simultaneously transforming their own economic situations, they are preserving the land for future generations.

$3 plants one orchard tree

$22 plants an orchard

* * * * * * * * * *

Entrepreneur Exchange Program - Egypt

Nearly a quarter of Egypt’s population lives below the poverty line, but women and the disabled are often stricken by extreme poverty.

In Egypt, where the population is approaching 100 million, the unemployment rate is a serious concern among women and the disabled. With unemployment being an estimated 63% among the disabled, and 40% for women under age 29, self-employment is often the only way to earn an income.

The HANDS ALONG THE NILE (HANDS) Young Entrepreneur Exchange Program empowers Egyptian women and the disabled to become more economically viable by attending business skills training in America and Egypt. Through connecting with individuals and organizations from the USA, Egyptian participants improve their business proficiency and build positive cross-cultural relationships between Americans and Egyptians. These global partnerships help fight poverty and provide a hopeful future for those who are otherwise cast off as unemployable and a liability to society.

$28 provides one share of entrepreneurship training

$71 provides one day of US-based training for one Egyptian

* * * * * * * *

Help Support Under-funded Projects, Where Needed Most - Global

What does it mean when a featured cause is under-funded?

It means a child will go hungry, or not get access to education, the sick will not get the medicine, a farmer’s crop will not thrive, a pregnant mother will not receive maternal care, and a rural village may go without clean water.

All projects in the catalog are life-changing and impact the lives of those most in need of aid. For reasons unknown, some of the featured projects will receive fewer donations. The donation you make to the Where Needed Most Fund goes to help those project so their goals of meeting human needs can be fulfilled. Each year ALTERNATIVE GIFTS INTERNTIONAL distributes this fund among the lesser-funded projects. It allows all those in need to receive your compassion

$15 provides one share of Where Needed Most Fund

(any amount is appreciated)

* * * * * * * *

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