Al Sustainability is the other name of charity

Though generosity is an everyday action expected of men, there’s no other time it is more felt than when the holiday season rings in. It is perhaps because of this that it is called the season of hope.

Charity is all the more highlighted this season to empower those who have less in life –– the powerless and insecure, the poor and marginalized. Charity assumes a face in the innumerable hearts of people who are willing to help, who are willing to become blessings to others. In return, they also become blessings to themselves. Indeed, there’s happiness in giving; there’s joy in charity.

To be charitable is a good action but to wean out the beneficiaries from charity is a nobler act. As American industrialist John D. Rockefeller said, “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.” 

Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation knows too well that dole-outs provide temporary relief. The foundation aims for sustainable development of a chosen community.

A T’boli bell charm by the T’boli of Lake Sebu community.

The foundation came into existence in 2006. Its founder Sandy Prieto-Romualdez was looking for a wedding gift and she found it hard to find local handicrafts with good quality. She discovered that, even if there were willing producers, market access was almost non-existent to them. Through research and face-to-face dealings with the people concerned, Sandy realized that even if these marginalized people were more than willing to improve their standing in life, they lacked not just funds but also technical know-how. Thus Gifts and Graces was born to become a social enterprise that supports the livelihood programs of marginalized groups in the country by partnering with NGOs and their beneficiaries, cooperatives and people’s organizations.

“We are committed to empower the people to stand up on their own. Our main goal is to break the cycle of poverty in these communities and put them on the road to sustainability,” says Sandy.

As a social enterprise, the foundation intervenes in the enterprise sustainability of the communities it supports through its programs in product development, market access and capability building on enterprise management.

Gifts and Graces is at present in partnership with 15 marginalized groups in the country, including former prison inmates, urban poor men and women, street children, former migrant workers to Japan, persons with disabilities and individuals with special needs. The not-for-profit organization helps these people in the production of home decor items such as pillows, aprons and candles; fashion accessories like bags and charms; puzzles and games, baskets, journals and many more.

The foundation’s partner communities include Alay Kapwa Tindahan, Convent of the Holy Spirit Social Action Center, Dawn, FCED Foundation, Hardin ng Kalikasan, He Cares Foundation, Isla sa Kaunlaran, Kaakbay Ebtre-worker Cooperative, Kaibhan, Inc., Kapitbahayan Candles, Kilusan, Pag-asa sa Paglaya Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Pangarap Foundation, Tahanang Walang Hagdan, The Learning Center, Heidies Crafts, T’boli of Lake Sebu, Caritas Manila and Pamana.

Gifts and Graces executive director Love Gregorie Perez says the products of these communities are patronized by corporate clients like Ayala Land Inc. (fruit candles placed in wood bowls), Nexus Technologies (picnic baskets) and Shangri-La group of hotels (tarpaulin bags, directory hampers and paper origami stars). Other clients include the University of the Philippines, Celestina, BDO, HSBC, Metrobank Foundation, ABS-CBN and Vic Barba.

“We also collaborated with the people from Market! Market! into turning their old tarpaulin banners into 4,000 bags,” says Love Gregorie.

Gifts and Graces is this year’s beneficiary of the Philippine Tatler’s Charity Week that runs until Sept. 28. Visa and 40 restaurants from Manila and two from Cebu participate in the charity.

The following restaurants will give a certain percentage of their sales to Gifts and Graces: XO46 Heritage Bistro, Chef Jessie Rockwell Club, Aubergine, Banana Leaf, Bizu Patisserie and Bistro, 22 Prime, 2nd’s, Bistro Filipino by Chef Laudico, Casa Roces, Champetre, Cav Wineshop, Cibo, Circles Event Café, Escolta, Fiji Restaurant, Kai, Keizo, Kirin Chinese Dining, L’Entrecote, LiLi, Mamou, Masseto, Mesa, Oakroom, Old Manila, Opus Restaurant and Lounge, Palermo Tapas and Pastas Café-Bar, Paparazzi, People’s Palace Thai, Restaurante Pia y Damaso, Romulo Café, Sala, Sala Bistro, Sugi, Summer Palace, Tao Yuan, The Tivoli, Top of the City, Va Bene and Zuni.

Love Gregorie adds that with the money from the charity, the foundation “plans to deepen its impact by increasing market access for its communities and helping improve production, through technical input and purchase of sewing machines and other equipment.”

“The people’s participation will go a long way towards helping them achieve this,” Love Gregorie ends.

When people who were once marginalized are helped to become independent, they do not only become economically empowered; they also restore their dignity and pride. With that, they become more inspired to create more. From being recipients of charity, they become a sustainable force that the community can depend on.

(For more information, please call Style Media Inc. at 814-0771 or Gifts and Graces at 759-2525.)

(E-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. You may want to follow me on Twitter @bum_tenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)