Give Books to Children in the Philippines

Hi all,

I just wanted to give you an update on our project to donate at least 3000 children's books to public schools and hospitals throughout the Philippines.

To date, we've raised nearly $10,000.00 (out of the $15,000.00) that we are targeting to raise for the project: $5,366.00 from 92 donations through Global Giving; $1,546.00 from donations given directly to us offline; and $2,857.00 from fund-raising art exhibitions that CANVAS hosted.

We are confident that we will be able to raise the funds necessary to publish AND distribute the books to those who need them most, for which reason we have moved forward with the layout and design of the book so that we can get an accurate quotation of the costs from the printers.  Attached, as a special preview to you, are the preliminary layouts and book cover design. 

I will emphasize that this is just an initial effort, and much can and will still change in the days ahead.  In addition to proofreading, there are additional pages to be added, including a page about the authors and artists; a special message page to describe the project and thank all the people and organizations who have made this activity possible; and we could still change the cover design.

But, hopefully, the attached files will give you a better idea of what exactly you are helping to bring to children all over the Philippines.

Please do continue to support this project by donating, or by simply telling your families and friends about the project.

We will keep you posted on our progress.  Indeed, it is my hope that my next report will be the one that tells you that the books have started to reach the hands of children all over the Philippines.

Best regards,

--Gigo

• Draft Layout - CANVAS Anthology (PDF)
  

The Global Giving April Challenge has just ended, and we are pleased to report that we have met the challenge of raising at least $4,000.00 from at least 50 different donors.  To date, through our Global Giving page, we have raised $5,092 from 76 donors!

In addition, 15 other donors directly gave us P60,000 (or $962) in cash and checks. 

On top of these, a portion of the proceeds from artshows and exhibitions that we are conducting from April through early June will benefit this project, and we expect to raise at least another P150,000 (or $3.488) from these activities.

So we are nearly 2/3 of the way to our target amount of $15,000.  We hope to raise the balance in the coming month or so.

I just wanted to give you an update, and to assure you that we will keep you all posted on the progress of our project.  The response to our project and goals have truly been amazing, and I've posted some links to a number of positive press that we've received.

Thank you, all, for your strong and continuing support! 

Links:

• Opinion piece by Benjamin Pimentel
• A shout-out from one of the Philippines' most popular bloggers
• A write-up on one of our fundraising exhibitions