We provide education for children from low income families that can't afford hagwons and tutors for their children.
We also run a group home. The children who stay in our group home have either lost one or both parents. They have no family able to take care of them for a multitude of reasons. We have 6 children- 4 boys and 2 girls- who stay in our group home.
Given their situation you might imagine that these children do not have much in life. We are only able to provide them with what our donors give us for them.
My request to you is this. Christmas is coming soon. I want to do something nice for these kids.
My thinking is to give each one a gift certificate for one of the internet clothing stores like GMarket. Things here in JangHeung are too expensive. I would also like to get them a game console and some games (XBox, Playstation, whatever).
I am requesting your help to make this happen. You know what's next! I need to get some money for this. I am hoping to ask everyone to give 20,000w-40,000w each for the effort. Anything would of course be appreciated!!!
Donations can be wired to a bank account set up with NongHyup Bank:
JangHeung TamJin Group Home (장흥탐진그룹홈)
Nonghyup Bank / 농협은행
657-01-075935
More information can be found on the Jangheung Area Children's Center (장흥지역아동센터) Korean-language homepage or the new English-language Facebook group.
7 comments:
Good board games (not the crap we grew up playing) are cheaper than video games, have way more replay value, and can be played even when the power is out. Top titles for kids include:
Hey! That's my Fish!
Cartagena
Blokus 3D
Bohnanza
Perudo
Qwirkle
Snorta!
The Amazing Labyrinth
All are easily available at interhobby.co.kr, and guaranteed not to gather dust.
I laud the work you're doing. If your kids deserve the best, consider unplugged games instead of yet another dead-end, low-value, screen-based toy.
At first glance I thought that comment was spam, but that's an interesting resource, tommy, and a good idea. Admittedly board games are a lot of fun, are more timeless---won't be out of style in a year or two---are more versatile, and don't presuppose skill at video games.
Hello Tommy and thank you for taking the time to read the post.
I want to respond to your suggestion. Please understand that I am no expert in communications. My response is not meant to 'put off' your suggestion or indicate that I don't agree with you.
You have a very good point.
I spend a lot of time with the 6 children. I take them out for activities, play time, lunch... whatever I have time and money for I do with them. I also try to make it normal, everyday activities so they have somewhat of a chance to feel like normal kids.
On these outings I get to see a lot. One thing I notice is when we are walking around JangHeung the kids like to look in the shops. One of the shops they like to stop at is the local game/video store. Being kids they are not good at hiding emotions and I can see their disappointment in thinking that they will never get to enjoy any of these things like other children. I've actually had a few of the younger ones cry about it.
Another reason for picking the video games was we gave them some board games previously. I bought them the Korean version of Monopoly and some teachers at my school are buying 2 more board games- I don't know which- to go in with the other gifts.
When staff was discussing what we wanted to get for the kids with any money we receive I remembered these trips and convinced the staff members that if possible we should get a game system. We just wanted the kids to have something normal like other children.
We had some of the same concerns with getting this type of gift for the kids. What we decided was the house 'mom' will keep it in her room. The kids will get one hour each day after their homework is finished (rotating days between the kids) and they can play for 2-3hours on Sunday after church.
I do not want to suggest that I am 'shooting down' your idea. My goal is to make a constructive comment and perhaps have a brief discussion about it with you or others who may feel the same way. I also wanted to provide a little more background about why we made that particular decision. I hope I have done that and if you would like to comment more please do.
I was referred to this website by a coworker. I plan on making a donation but I would like to suggest something. I don't think you should have actual amounts for donations (20,000-40,000). SOmone who planned on contributing 10,000, like myself, can be discouraged to give anything thinking that anything less than 10,000 is not an appropriate amount.
i meant to say anything less than 20,000
That's a good point, kimchee.
This is a great effort, and is but one example of the good work expats are doing in their local communities in Jeollanam-do. However, it probably should have been developed a little more. Asking for a minimum, while maybe helpful in the OP's eyes, may as you say turn people off from donating, figuring their contributions will be too small.
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