Altrusa International Service Projects
A database of Service projects from throughout our Altrusa organization
Our club is fortunate to have a Days for Girls Chapter in Orlando and we have been active in participating monthly to the Chapter. Beginning with having the Chapter team co-leader as a guest speaker at our June general meeting. We have 2 members who have become sewing sisters and providing items donated by our members regularly. Currently our clubs contributions have totaled $105.00 cash $525.33 in supplies and 203 hours collectively with members participation at 100%.
The purpose of this project was to bring encouragement to women in the depressed economy and violent society of Jamaica West Indies with a simple personal gift. The targeted women reside in a rural mountain community outside of Montego Bay. The need was identified by Jamaica Mission Partnership , a group of volunteers from USA churches in North Florida and South Carolina who provide leadership and support to Jamaican church workers, facilitating Vacation Bible School for hundreds of children, youth, and adults each July. Altrusa members chose to write notes of encouragement to the women of the church sharing “positive perspectives” including quotes, scriptures, and words of support. Note cards were available at Altrusa meetings to be written there or taken home and returned at the following meeting. Each Altrusa member purchased one pair of new panties, any size or style, for these women. We know how encouraging a new pair of panties can be to lift a woman’s spirit, especially one who has little or nothing in worldly possessions. Panties were purchased and delivered by individual members to a collection point at a local business. Members sorted panties by size and repackaged them in zip lock bags for delivery.
The Nashville Altrusa Club is paying half of the sponsorship for Edina to attend school in Kenya. Her mother is very ill with AIDS and she would not be able to attend school without sponsorship. This is a 4 year commitment for us. She is sponsored through a program called Joint Hearts and Hands and it was brought to us by a member who knows the people that started that organization. Our 4 year commitment will cost a total of $1,000.00 for our club.
Several members made specific patterned Bears out of their own material stash & sent to Rare Bear Science Program an international community that raises monies for research conducted for the rare disease patients
The St. Paul Altrusa club provides lunch to the nursing assistant class at International Institute for Make A Difference Day. International Institute assists new Americans in their transition to their new homeland by providing programs and services for integration into a new community. A monetary donation is also provided to the institute.
Our club routinely packages kindness bags with toiletries, change and non-perishable food items. Some of the bags are donated to the local Meals-On-Wheels program to be delivered with meals to the home bound participants of the program. Other bags are sent to military personnel serving overseas.
Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to help end world hunger and poverty. It works on the “Teach a man to fish” philosophy. Instead of just giving a handout, Heifer International brings sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. The animals they provide help families with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey that can be traded or sold at market. When many families gain this new sustainable income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural cooperatives, forming community savings and funding small businesses.
Each time you give a donation, you are able to purchase animals like goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and honeybees. There is also the ability to help empower women by giving donations earmarked for launching a small business, starting a self-help group, or sending a girl to school. Another choice for donations is purchasing sustainable items such as trees, clean water, stove for the village and irrigation pumps.
As a club you can “pass the cup” at each meeting for a year to collect change from each member. Another way to collect donations, like spare change, is to put jars at local businesses. At the end of the year, the club can choose the items they would like to purchase.
Heifer International accepts donations of any denomination.
https://www.heifer.org
We will be providing funds for furniture to Brent International School Manila in the Philippines. Brent is a private, Episcopal IB school serving students grades nursery to twelve. Our contact is one of the sponsors of the National Honor Society chapter. Her main role within NHS is to schedule, plan, and oversee the outreach tutoring program with the nearby Gawad Kalinga Phillips Village. The upper school students (grade 9-12) travel to the village once per month to tutor children in grades 1 to 6 in both English/reading and math. Many of the students they tutor have younger siblings who “sneak” in to tutoring, also. The younger students have limited English and spend the time with them by reading. Depending on how many tutors they have, the students either read to them as a group or provide one-on-one time going through books that interest the children.
Since the school is located in the Philippines, Altrusa has decided to send funding instead of purchasing the requested items due to the cost of shipping, etc. Our contact will purchase much-needed furniture for the tutoring room. They tutor the children on the second floor of the community center which is not air conditioned or well insulated. Windows are frequently left open which causes issues with the plastic tables and chairs. This furniture has been in use for five years and the extreme heat of the Philippines has taken its toll. Our contact has provided us with a sample of folding tables and chairs to be purchased. They are requesting 3 folding tables and 6 sets of folding chairs. We have asked for pictures of the students and the furniture once it is purchased.
We donate funds through Kiva.org and select micro-loans — typically $25 at a time — from that website to help groups and individuals, mainly in 3rd world countries, to fund their small businesses, education, health needs, etc. As each recipient pays back the loan, we use those funds to lend to additional people.