Busted: Children’s Leukemia Charity Gave Just 1% Of Donations to the Cause

When donating to charity, it is important to be careful and do diligent research on the organization that you will be donating to, because sadly, it is common for charities to be run by scammers.

In the case of the New York-based National Children’s Leukemia Foundation, the organization brought in millions of dollars that were intended for children with leukemia, but it was recently discovered that just 1% of those donations actually went towards helping children with the disease.

The organization was well-respected and perceived as a legitimate charity for many years, despite the fact that most of the donations went towards salaries and elaborate fundraisers to bring in more money.

“Start listing some legitimate sounding programs like a bone marrow registry and people very often have a hard time saying no,” Deputy State Attorney General Yael Fuchs said in a statement.

“NCLS didn’t make any dreams or wishes come true,” he added.

Zvi Shor, the leader of the organization, has been forced to shut down the charity, but he denies that he has done anything wrong. His attorney told the New York Times that he ran the charity “with the best of intentions.”

However, according to State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the organization accepted donations across the country, over the course of many years, for programs that did not even exist. Now the New York Attorney General is accusing the foundation of conducting a $9.7 million fraud.

The charity first came under fire in 2010 when it was discovered that Shor was previously arrested for bank fraud, which would make him ineligible to run a charity. After stepping down and replacing himself with friend and long-time accountant, Yehuda Gutwein, Shor allegedly continued to pull the strings of the organization behind the scenes.

These findings reportedly spurred an investigation, which resulted in the recent revelations about the charity.

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Source: http://themindunleashed.org/

Art Workshop with International Teams Tender

It was our 3rd event with the kids of IT Tender and they always make the trip to Alabang worthwhile with their warm smiles. We gathered 26 kids for an afternoon of fun and art. The U! Core Team was joined by two other volunteers who was eager to start the afternoon with a blast. The ates were given a chance to introduce themselves to the kids. We all stated our name, favorite game and favorite color. The kids also raised their hands if they had the same favorite color as their volunteer Ates. We then grouped the kids into 4 teams wherein the volunteers were distributed to act as the leaders of each team. We gave each team a chance to introduce themselves to each other. Next challenge was for them to name their teams. We have (1) Team Pabebe Kids (2) Team Attack! (3) Team Daisy and (4) Team Aldub Nation.

After having their respective team names, the teams were ready to play the games. First game was the Hula Hoop Relay where each team were to hold hands while in a straight line. The objective of the game was for everyone to pass through the hula hoop with their hands held together as a group. After several rounds of close calls and almost wins, Team Attack won this very exciting game.

Since the first game was too physical for everyone, our next game was played with each team sitting down in a circle. We usually play the Kalamansi Relay in a line but we decided to give this game a twist. With just 3 cups and 2 kalamansi per team, each team should be able to pass the kalamansi within the circle using the cups interchangeably per member until it reaches its starting point. This is a race to 3 points. We even had different challenge along the way as we lessened the number of cups into 2 since they were getting better and faster in each round. Team Aldub Nation was the fastest in this game which gave them a win.

Our main activity happened after we played the two fun games. The kids were settled already on the floor with their volunteer Ates to guide them as they learn how to make a chicken puppet. Our U! Treasurer, Ate Amy, was also our art teacher for the afternoon. She taught the kids the step by step way of making their very own chicken puppet. It was a delight to see the kids being able to follow the instructions just by looking at how Ate Amy does it. Perhaps one of the most fun part of the workshop was when they were putting the feathers to their chicken puppets. Yes, it was a mess after every workshop but to see the kids holding up their chicken puppet was truly priceless.

We then asked the kids to put away first their works of art as we, as a group, cleaned the place for our very last activity—eating time! A yummy serving of Jollibee spaghetti and drink was a great reward to the kids for the physical games and workshop we did. Picture taking followed as everyone posed while smiling, being wacky and doing the ‘pabebe wave’. We then distributed our gifts of school supplies to kids before we said goodbyes. The volunteer ates and kids also exchanged Thank Yous and hugs to cap of a lovely afternoon in Alabang.

Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston & Others Set For NBC Children’s Charity Special

More than 65 Hollywood A-listers have signed on for NBC’s Red Nose Day special, a live three-hour charity event to aid children living in poverty throughout the world. It will air live from 8-11 PM ET on Thursday May 21 ,with appearances by Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jodie Foster, among others. The special also will feature comedy, musical performances and videos produced by Funny or Die.

Several media outlets, including Deadline and our sister pub TV Line, donated media space to help promote the live three-hour event. National radio time also was donated, along with advertising space in theaters and subways, on Jumbotron displays and more. Outfront Media led the charge, donating 3D billboards sporting giant red noses in top markets across the country, along with space on buses, in subways, on street furniture and via digital bulletins and posters.

Other media partners who donated space include Conde Nast, iHeartMedia, Time Inc., Amazon, AMI, AOL, Bon Appétit, Closer Weekly, Details Magazine, DirecTV, Dish, GQ, GumGum, The Hollywood Reporter, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style Weekly, National CineMedia, The New Yorker, Opera Mediaworks and Pandora, along with Rolling Stone, Rovi, Specific Media, Spotify, Tremor Video, TubeMogul, TV Guide, TV Guide Magazine, Videology and Yume.

Stars who also will appear in the special include Julianne Moore, Jack Black, Coldplay, Neil Patrick Harris, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Michelle Rodriguez and Gwyneth Paltrow, along with John Legend and The Voice coaches Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Pharrell Williams.

The benefit event will help 12 charity organizations lift children and young people out of poverty, in the U.S. and throughout the world. The charity partners are Boys & Girls Clubs of America; charity: water; Children’s Health Fund; Feeding America; Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; the Global Fund; LIFT; National Council of La Raza; National Urban League; Oxfam America; Save the Children and United Way.

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Source: http://deadline.com/

Shell Celebrates with Metro World Child

Another worthwhile event was scheduled by a department in Shell. We look forward to having big events like this year round every year so we can provide better opportunities for children. Our partner for this one was Metro World Child. The children traveled all the way from San Mateo, Rizal.

The morning was promising as 50 children and around 70 volunteers ready up for a string of 5 interactive games/ activities including a Magic Show. We started with Bahay, Baboy, Bagyo and then got them grouped to 9 big teams after. In that game the Bahay were volunteers, children were Baboy and the Bagyo represented a calamity that enabled volunteers to protect the children. Those who weren’t part of the number needed per Bahay and Baboy gets eliminated.

Before we went on to Bring Me Art game, we had getting to know. It is our customary activity to make sure strangers become friends instantly. Each member of the group shared their names, their best friend and what they want to be when they grow up. The volunteers shared their current work. Bring Me Art is one of the favorite games we play. It got each one closer as it required team work to come up with an item together.

Dance Showdown was next. I must say this part was the highlight. Each team selected dance leaders to lead the rest and wowed us. Together with board member, Ate Rica, we had a tough time choosing a winner. All 9 teams exhibited unique steps and everyone followed well.

Everyone took their much needed rest and ate brunch. After which we had a cheering competition using their group number as a theme. They only had 10 seconds to execute. Group 9 was an easy favorite for this one. They did a really creative Math type of cheer. I wish I took a video for you.

Tons of giveaways welcome each child. On top of school supplies, they also received random goodies from Shell. Thank you once again for this partnership. We look forward for more blessings for the children.

US Charity Group Raising Funds for Filipino Street Kids

MANILA, Oct. 2, 2015— A US-based charitable organization is hoping to bring health services to more Filipino street children and poor families.

The Barnabite Heart to Heart Mission launched a fundraising campaign on Sept. 19 to raise US$100,000, or roughly Php 4.6 million, to set up and operate a mobile medical unit in the Philippines.

The fundraising event for the “Make Sad Eyes Smile” project was attended by Cardinal Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of Manila himself in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The project is the brainchild of the group’s founder, Fr. Robert Kosek, when he returned to Pennsylvania from the Philippines in 2014.

The priest was working as rector of the Barnabite Seminary in Marikina City when he realized the immense poverty of the area and started the House of Care of Fr. Semeria, a school for poor children.

Later on, the facility started providing food and medical services.

“Make Sad Eyes Smile will help the poor street children in the Philippines by giving them medical and dental care,” Kosek said.

“And by doing that, we are showing them God’s love and helping them feel and live better,” he added.

According to him, they need to raise a certain amount to obtain a medical van, build its interior, equip it and operate for the first year.

In his message, Tagle said the mobile clinic will help a lot in terms of providing health services to “people who are forced into poverty.”

“We in the Philippines, especially the poor children… we are not the only ones who will benefit from this project but the whole humanity for I believe that every act of love changes the whole world,” Tagle said.

The project also got the support of Allentown Bishop John Barres, saying that it is an opportunity for the people of the diocese to “raise their consciousness of the people of the Philippines.” (R. Lagarde/CBCPNews)

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Source: http://www.cbcpnews.com/

Lazada’s Star City with Project Pearls

Time is the best gift we can give to children. A time to eat out with them, play and have fun with them. Last October 23, 2015, Lazada, previously owned by e-commerce, sponsored an event for the NGO Project Pearls, a community based company, at Star City. The said activity started at 2pm with 39 volunteers ready to take care of 50 kids who are about to experience fun in a newfound playground.

With the help of the people from Project Pearls and U! Happy Events, each kid were paired with a guardian to accompany him/her. Even the pairing of the kids and the volunteers were so much fun. Everyone was numbered accordingly and was defied to look for their partners with the same number. First five who was able to look for their partners were given prizes. The event was hosted by Kuya Harvard and did some more games for the kids prior to entering the amusement park. Also, Denise, young lady from Project Pearl, graced a song for everyone and her rendition of the song “Cheerleader” was superb.

When the gates were opened for everyone, everyone rushed to enjoy the rides and booths inside the amusement park. Our team were able to experience the Bump Car ride, three ladies mentioned that they want to warm up with that ride since it’s less frightening.

After that, each kid was given generous amount of tokens to enjoy token-required booths. Most of the kids chose basketball and enjoyed the challenge of having to shoot more number of balls to gain points. Also, Kuya Harvard played basketball with the kids who scored fairly at a three-point line from the basket. Volunteers were also challenged by the kids to enter the horror booth, wherein volunteers are more scared to enter than the kids.

At the end of the course, smiles and laughs are all that you can notice in the faces of everyone. Some kids even pushed themselves to the limit when they fearlessly lined up to ride the roller coaster. I was even more scared than those kids whose excitement was at its peak. The kids were screaming at the top of their lungs the moment the ride started up until they stepped down the elevated railway.

After hours of excitement and amusement, the kids were treated to an early dinner at Jollibee Harbor Point. Volunteers and Kids eat together and enjoyed their time chatting with their experiences at the amusement park. To cap the day, awards and prizes were given to the kids. The event commenced with a group photo trying to squeeze in almost a hundred individual in one portrait.

Indeed, this is a day full of fun and excitement. A day well spent that inspired people from Lazada, who gave their TIME to these children, who deserve to experience the best way on how to be a kid.

Kate Middleton Cracks Up, Has a Ball With Prince William, Prince Harry at Children's Charity Event: Adorable Photos!

Letting her hair down! Kate Middleton had a ball while attending a children's charity event at BAFTA's headquarters in London's Piccadilly on Monday, Oct. 26. The mum of two was joined by her husband, Prince William, and brother-in-law Prince Harry to support the animated special Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas.

Clad in a fit-and-flare Tabitha Webb dress, Middleton, 33, took part in several activities. The sporty Duchess — who famously played lacrosse while attending St. Andrews — had some young competition as she played a round of welly wanging at the event. (During the game, players try to throw Wellington boots within boundary lines, which are located a few feet away.)

The Duke of Cambridge, 33, and his younger brother, 31, stood behind Middleton as she played, and couldn't stop laughing. They, too, joined in on the fun.

"Kate admitted her effort was hopeless," an onlooker tells Us Weekly.

Nevertheless, Prince William also showed off his sweet daddy skills. At one point, he wore Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas hats with children at a crafts table. Prince Harry, in particular, kept one wheelchair-bound child in stitches while speaking with him.

But that's not all. The royal family also watched four school children put on a cute performance. At one point, the kids made it appear like they had stepped inside a suitcase on stage.

"Kate joined one little girl on stage and the pair filmed the last scene," the source adds. "William joked, 'Make Catherine do a silly walk.'"

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Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/