Help Needed: NO More Smokey Christmas!

Payatas in Philippines, better known as Smokey Mountain, is a smoking dump site not only for garbage and trash but also the living place and source of income for more than 20,000 innocent children. These children will search through the heaps of garbage daily for materials that can be sold for money as the entire family depends on the income for food. Thus, children as young as four who are supposed to be growing and learning in a clean, conducive environment are forced to work with other adult scavengers among the mountains of trash. They are not only exposed to various diseases which may affect their growth, but they are also putting their life at risk as seen in the July 2000 tragedy which claimed more than 200 lives when heavy rain caused a trash slide to occur.

Various organisations are extending help to these children and one of them is Lighthouse Center For Children Foundation which is providing food and education to these underpriviledged children. Currently, only over 500 children are being supported by this foundation due to limited fund and more money are needed to help more children in Payatas to break the cycle of poverty and eventually, return and help their own community. Since Christmas is fast approaching, Totedaddy.com is giving a cash sponsorship of USD10,000 for the children to celebrate Christmas. Christmas For Payatas is a charity project with the aim of raising donations for Christmas. There are many famous supporters and celebrities supporting this noble cause and some of them are:

1. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines
2. Noli L. De Castro, Vice President of the Philippines
3. Rexy Mainaky, Former badminton World Champion and Olympic gold medallist

And closer to our home are:

1. Foo Kok Keong, Former badminton champion
2. Karen Kong, Singer
3. James Wong, Actor

For more information on this noble project, Christmas For Payatas, you can visit this page. On that page, you can also find a video clip on the deplorable condition of the children of Payatas to raise awareness on the help needed by the children living in Smokey Mountain. And if that video is still not heart-wrenching enough for you to part your money for these poor kids, think of Lin Jun Jie’s Love And Hope, Charlene Choi’s Make A Wish, S.H.E. and Fahrenheit in A Better World… Isn’t the essence of Christmas is ‘Season of Giving’?