Personal | Kristine. *if you ever read anything on this blog, read this.*
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I'm not some self-proclaimed do-gooder or humanitarian. And, let me preface this post by saying that what I'm about to share should not be construed as some cheesy Sally Struthers pitch, because I hate when anything comes even the slightest bit across as that.
A few months ago while waiting downtown for a friend before happy hour, I was approached by some kid, fresh out of college, who asked if I'd be interested in an international child sponsorship program. As I stood there inhaling my cigarette, blowing smoke in his face while rolling my eyes, I reluctantly agreed. Let me explain that my reluctance mainly stemmed from the notion I'd heard that these types of programs were a ploy of 'charitable fronts' to swipe people's money. Even knowing this in the back of my mind, I went ahead and signed my credit card information to be billed on a monthly basis so that the best investment I ever made would in some way contribute to an anonymous child's life.
Amidst the chaos that ensued in the months that followed, I managed to keep this 'cause' in mind without investing much thought or emotion into it...until a few weeks ago when I received a personal, hand-written letter from my sponsored child, Kristine. Kristine is from my home country of the Philippines. She's 10 years old. Her favorite subject is math. Her favorite hobbies are singing and dancing and she loves playing with her sister and friend. She's also quite the rendering artist. The compelling thing about Kirstine's letter was while she wrote just a few, short sentences she also said so much. I also sensed a great deal of sincerity in her letter and from it an important reminder that having everything isn't everything.
So as much as I hate the idea of having to wear the Do-Gooder-Sally-Struthers-issued-humanitarian-badge, there's no way that I can get my message across without it. That said, if there's a single person out there who reads this blog besides me, then I encourage you to read up on Children International and consider sponsorship. They also have a blog which I encourage you to check out here.
A few months ago while waiting downtown for a friend before happy hour, I was approached by some kid, fresh out of college, who asked if I'd be interested in an international child sponsorship program. As I stood there inhaling my cigarette, blowing smoke in his face while rolling my eyes, I reluctantly agreed. Let me explain that my reluctance mainly stemmed from the notion I'd heard that these types of programs were a ploy of 'charitable fronts' to swipe people's money. Even knowing this in the back of my mind, I went ahead and signed my credit card information to be billed on a monthly basis so that the best investment I ever made would in some way contribute to an anonymous child's life.
Amidst the chaos that ensued in the months that followed, I managed to keep this 'cause' in mind without investing much thought or emotion into it...until a few weeks ago when I received a personal, hand-written letter from my sponsored child, Kristine. Kristine is from my home country of the Philippines. She's 10 years old. Her favorite subject is math. Her favorite hobbies are singing and dancing and she loves playing with her sister and friend. She's also quite the rendering artist. The compelling thing about Kirstine's letter was while she wrote just a few, short sentences she also said so much. I also sensed a great deal of sincerity in her letter and from it an important reminder that having everything isn't everything.
So as much as I hate the idea of having to wear the Do-Gooder-Sally-Struthers-issued-humanitarian-badge, there's no way that I can get my message across without it. That said, if there's a single person out there who reads this blog besides me, then I encourage you to read up on Children International and consider sponsorship. They also have a blog which I encourage you to check out here.
Labels: Children International
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on Sunday, July 27, 2008 at 11:58 PM.
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