december, 2009 volume 7, issue 2 the h.e.l.p...

I t is hard to believe

that we have begun

our 6th year and we

are as excited

about the future of

HELP FOUNDATION as

the day we started. Last

year was a very challeng-

ing year to say the least.

Because of the economy,

many of our donors were

not able to continue their

very generous donations.

Also, our own projects

suffered because of inter-

nal problems. But I be-

lieve that the recession is

behind us because your

donations have in-

creased. Recently we

changed our focus by

concentrating on sus-

tainable projects. There

are so many of you have

“stuck with us” and for

that, I am most apprecia-

tive!! We have had some

disappointments: namely

the Bethany Christian

Home for Children. In

our last newsletter, I re-

ported to you that we

had completed an exten-

sive study of Bethany

and recommended some

major changes. Unfortu-

nately, the Board of Direc-

tors of Bethany and the

staff of Bethany elected not

to make the changes recom-

mended. If I cannot guar-

antee that your donation

will go for its intended pur-

pose, then I am not doing

my job. This was the case in

Bethany. Our mission was

to help the orphans, not the

staff of Bethany. However,

this year, we continue some

involvement in Bethany but

we control the funding. A

group of donors are provid-

ing therapy for a special

child at Bethany; a donor is

sending an adult orphan to

college and we are continu-

ing to support Jim and

Jane Kirchner, volunteers

from Kansas, who did mar-

velous work at Bethany by

allowing them to use HELP

Foundation to raise funds

for maintenance and re-

pairs of the buildings at

Bethany.

We have so many

other worthy projects where

I can guarantee that each

dollar spent goes to a needy

child or a poor family. Our

hopes and dreams of help-

ing poor children in the

Philippines continue. Al-

though we still support feed-

ing/nutrition programs and

school sponsorship, health, and

sanitation, our main effort re-

volves around SUSTAINABLE

projects. Our new goal is to

provide people with the train-

ing, education, and microcredit

to enable them to make a liv-

ing. It only makes sense to

provide the tools for the poor to

enjoy financial success. We will

not abandon our sponsorship

program, our rainwater har-

vesting program, or our very

successful feeding/nutrition

program because these projects

“open doors” for and save lives

of children!! However, our mi-

cro-loan program builds self-

esteem and enables the poor to

take care of their own children.

The update below is a combina-

tion of old and new.

Update from the Program Manager

My grandson Evan and I

December, 2009

Hu ma n i ta r ia n E f f or t s t o Le ssen Po ver t y o f Un de rp r iv i l eg ed C h i ldre n in t he P h i l ip p ine s

Volume 7, Issue 2

The H.E.L.P FOUNDATION

E-mail: [email protected]

Providing Hope and Opportunity

The foundation’s student spon-

sorship program now has 240

sponsored children. We have

three full time volunteers + my

wife working just to keep up

with the program. I am

pleased to report that Aviation

Concepts, Inc. headquartered

in Guam, are new sponsors to

29 children. They are the first

corporate sponsor of children.

It is interesting to note that

one of the large international

school sponsorship programs

asks for $24/month and must

be quite successful because

they are able to receive mil-

lions of dollars for their pro-

grams. Since we require $10/

month for exactly the same ser-

vices; school expenses, school

supplies, food allowance, I

question where the other

$14/month is being spent. I

can assure you that it is going

for administrative expenses!!

We don’t spend money on ad-

vertising or administrative ex-

pense; that is my responsibil-

ity!! Your donation goes di-

rectly to the poor children!! Of

all of our projects, this is the

most labor intensive!! Our

hope is that every child will

write his sponsor and every

sponsor will write the child

he/she sponsors. That works

about 85% of the time!! We

work hard to get each child to

write his/her sponsor but it is

a difficult proposition. The

same is true with sponsors

writing their children. I have

no control over that but most

of the sponsors send a note to

their sponsored child. Let me

tell you sponsors, writing a

note is very important. There

is nothing that the sponsored

kids would rather receive than

a letter from you. If you send

a picture, it will end up on the

family altar right next to Je-

sus and the Virgin Mary!!

You are providing them hope

and opportunity and that is

what we are all about!! This

program will continue to grow

but we are now focusing our

efforts in Mindanao and will

slowly transition from the

Payatas Dumpsite in Manila.

School Sponsorship Program


Writing letters to their sponsors

Christmas Card Making

HELP Foundation, through

the generosity of Stan & Dr.

Helen Hooper, is sponsoring

an outreach program which

improves basic literacy skills

and nutrition of poor, mal-

nourished and academically

challenged 3rd graders. The

students are removed from

their regular classroom two

days a week and receive inten-

sive tutoring in English,

mathematics, and writing.

They also receive a nutritious

lunch meal and a children’s

vitamin. These kids are mak-

ing remarkable progress.

Literacy Program

The 3rd graders and the volunteers

On their math lessons

Volume 7, Issue 2

The “bread and butter” of our

vision is to enable families to

earn an income so that they

can improve

their quality of

life and sup-

port their own

children. I was

fortunate to

hire an ex-

tremely tal-

ented young

man who has

the knowledge and ability to

make this program work effec-

tively. His name is Amado

Rivera but we call him Jojo.

He is multitalented and is not

only in charge of the loans, but

also is a master trainer. Jojo

shares my passion for helping

the poor. Actually, he came to

Bukidnon to work at Bethany,

compliments of Lynn and

Terry Habeck from Guam.

When his assignment was ter-

minated at Bethany, I hired

him to manage our livelihood

projects. HELP Foundation

only has one microcredit op-

eration in Bukidnon that it

manages solely but we are in

the process of taking over the

other two microcredit opera-

tions in the Payatas and

Caubian, where the funds are

provided by HELP but man-

aged by Punlad Buhay Foun-

dation and Pagtambayayong

Foundation. In Bukidnon

alone, we average over 150

new loan applicants/week. Mi-

croloans mean simply that.

We initially loan 1,000 pesos

($21.00) to poor rural families.

They have to submit a busi-

ness proposal which usually

entails a “buy and sell” busi-

ness. If the borrowers have no

skill, Jojo also conducts

classes on making products

that can readily be sold. The

success is phenomenal. Many

of the products that I bring

back to the States are a result

of these microloans. Our next

major project is building a

training center in Talakag

that will assist in developing

individual skills that can be

utilized both locally and

abroad. The cost of the Train-

ing Center in itself, is not a

sustainable project, however,

each graduate will have the

ability and potential to enter

the work force.

Livelihood Project

Jojo Rivera, teaching mothers how to

make pastillas (Filipino candy)

Bread basket weaving

A small Store Selling Fish balls

Selling Barbecued chicken and

pork

Availed the Microcredit Program

H.E.L.P. is a nonprofit 501 (c), 509 (a)(1) organization

under the Congressional District Programs Inc.

Amado Rivera


There are so many things go-

ing on in Caubian; microloans,

water projects, nutrition and

sanitation projects, solar oven

fielding, medical missions, etc.

One of the exciting things

about Caubian is that I have

been able to partner with

other missions. In addition to

the help of the Lloyd & Carol

Brown Foundation, and Ro-

tary, I just received word that

a British Company (Smart

Digital Online. Ltd.) wants to

partner with HELP Founda-

tion. The solar oven was de-

layed but it is scheduled to

arrive in mid-February. The

oven has the capacity of bak-

ing 1,000 loaves of bread/day

and also the capability of boil-

ing many gallons of water for

drinking. The residents of

Caubian have taken steps on

their own to improve their en-

vironment. They are planting

mangrove trees to restore the

coral reefs; they are develop-

ing a recycling center so that

the waste will not be thrown

in the ocean; they want to pro-

vide community bathrooms for

the 3,000 residents. Because

of our help, they are a commu-

nity in action. In the next few

months, we will focus on

Caubian projects.

Caubian Island

Village Pharmacy at Caubian

A child helping his mother sell shells

Fixing water barrels

Goat Project

remain with the herd and its

offspring will be given to poor

rural families. I am happy to

report that the Temecula Ro-

tary Club, Temecula, Califor-

nia has purchased 8 female

crossbred goats and the Chan-

dler Horizon Rotary Club,

Chandler, Arizona has pur-

chased 17 female crossbred

goats. What a great project!!

The goat farm has grown to 125

mothers, 55 kids (to be given

away) and 4 lucky fathers!! We

have continuing classes with

poor rural families who will be

the beneficiaries. We have two

fundraising projects for goats;

the first is an “Adopt a Goat

Program” where for $40.00, one

can “adopt” a goat and can even

name it. The other project is

where service clubs or individu-

als can buy herd goats and this

initiative will have long term

benefits for the project because

each female goat purchased will Temecula Rotary Club donated goats

Chandler Horizon Rotary Club donated

goats

H.E.L.P. is a nonprofit 501 (c), 509 (a)(1) organization

under the Congressional District Programs Inc.

“The B.J. Ballhorst Botika”

every attempt to honor your de-

sire to use your donation as you

request. Currently we have the

following programs:

- General Fund -

feeding/nutrition, potable water,

medical missions, sanitation

-Adopt a goat

-Purchase of herd goats

- Literacy (sponsorship) $120/year

- Potable water

- Livelihood Training

- Microcredit

When you send your donation,

Please include a note to indi-

cate to which project you

wish to donate.

Send to:

We have lots of work yet to do.

During the past 5 years, I

have worked diligently to

build a team of local nationals

who were competent and

whom I could trust. I am confi-

dent that I have that team in

place. Melchora Saliring, a

respected nurse and Amado

Rivera, a talented business-

man will head the operation in

the Philippines. Cathy Baillo

and Gina Rico will serve as

business managers; Allan Ma-

pano will manage the goat

farm; Jaspher Obina and R.J.

Omolon will be responsible for

Caubian projects; and Emma

Bigcas and Frechina Hijosa

will manage the sponsorship

programs. Of course, I and

especially my wife Pat will

provide oversight. I tell you

this because next summer, I

will spend most of my time in

the states working for Rotary

International as the District

Governor Elect in 2010 and

District Governor in 2011 in

RI District 5670. Pat will

spend a substantial amount of

time in the Philippines and

make sure that all projects are

managed efficiently. In fact,

she will probably do a better

job than I do!! I am expecting

many volunteers to return to

the Philippines and lend a

hand because their contribu-

tions are immeasurable. My

decision to take on this addi-

tional responsibility hinged on

the fact that Rotary Interna-

tional is one of the best, if not

the best humanitarian service

organizations in the world.

Rotary members have pro-

vided over $50,000 to our pro-

jects and the Rotary Founda-

tion has provided over

$150,000.00 in grants. Need I

say more? However, I con-

sider each of you as a partner

and your generosity has been

the key to our success. I make

Volume 7, Issue 2

Some of the beneficiaries of the Goat Project through Adopt a Goat Program

Giving away of a goat with Pat

Hooper, goats name Jada given by

Steve Schmidt Goat’s name Sparky

given by Steven &

Kimberly Graff

Goat’s name Piano Sue

given by Sharlene & Doug

Gardner


c/o Keith W. Hooper

23031 60 Road

Lebanon, KS 66952

Goat’s Name

Charlie

given by

GOODLAND

ROTARY

Final Thoughts

Goat’s name

Kaley

given by Cris

Conant

We’re on the web

Www.thehelpfoundation.com

c/o Keith Hooper

23031 60 Road

Lebanon, KS 66952

Phone: (785)389-3621

E-mail: [email protected]

The H.E.L.P. Foundation

December 2008

Alfe from Caubian

Nutritious meals from your donations

PowerFlour from Rotarians in Wisconsin

Vitamins from a pharmacist in Kansas

WOW!

November 2009

Your generosity DID IT AGAIN.

Some of the sponsored children receiv-

ing school supplies A pose after the classes on goat raising Some of the kids from the feeding program

There are so many gods,

So, many creeds,

So many paths that wind and wind

When just the art of being kind

Is all that the world needs

Arthur Morris

1868-1929

december, 2009 volume 7, issue 2 the h.e.l.p...

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