Teaching kids to fish

Giving a kid fish is charity. Teaching him to fish, however, is a noble cause. Non-government organizations like Diether Ocampo’s K.I.D.S. (Kabataang Inyong Dapat Suportahan) Foundation has been trying to do this for the past years.

"We want to reach out to needy youth," says Diether of the many things his foundation is bent on working on.

"K.I.D.S. also wishes to bring a smile on a kid’s face and share the happy childhood most of us have experienced," he says. This is the kind of childhood that is full of playing, loving and caring.

Diether and friends (Mon Castro, Egay Bautista and Kristine Hermosa) have been sharing their blessings for five years now. The idea started from a simple Christmas gathering of friends supported by Pizza Hut which Diether endorses. It was only recently that they realized the need to formalize the foundation and increase the number of people they can help. (Diether and company are silent charity workers). Remember, good news and causes must be heralded. K.I.D.S. Foundation is not a spur-of-the-moment thing as cynics suspect.

Diether explains that it will collaborate with other existing foundations/organizations with similar intentions to improve the life of today’s youth, especially the underprivileged. Sen. Francis Pangilinan, author of the Juvenile Justice Act, supports the causes of Diether’s foundation.

Diether also clarifies that putting up K.I.D.S. is neither a political preparation nor move, though people of Bacoor, Cavite have encouraged him to run for a local office. As Diether puts it, "You need not to be a politician to help."

On Dec. 14, K.I.D.S. Foundation will stage its benefit show entitled Unang Hakbang, also the foundation’s first major project this year. Bamboo, The Dawn, Mayonnaise and Mojofly will grace the event.

Six kids stricken with cancer are the beneficiaries of the fund-raising show. Proceeds of the concert will go to their medical and rehabilitation needs like chemotherapy, wheelchair and operation. K.I.D.S. Foundation also plans to visit hospitals to directly deliver the help (monetary or in kind).

Members of K.I.D.S. Foundation share that anyone can seek their help and they will respond to the need based on its urgency.

More than the financial and emotional help the foundation offers, K.I.D.S. also exists to protect and preserve the rights of a child. Among these are the right to live comfortably, be educated, have a clean, peaceful environment, be heard and respected and have equal opportunities.

The last right, K.I.D.S. Foundation believes, will help financially-challenged youngsters realize their dreams.

"We should come together to help others," challenges Diether. "There shouldn’t be boundaries to do this."