Charity event for Vivendo e Aprendendo

Everyday thousands of children and their families in Brazil go hungry. Without money for food, families are forced to steal or put their children to work at an early age. Children are seen on the street every day begging for money.

My son attends a nursery which is maintained with voluntary contributions as they receive little or no help from the government. About 90 children attend the nursery, and most from families who are in extreme financial situations. The nursery offers four meals per day- breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. They are able to give the children fresh vegetables because the vegetables are donated by CEASA, which is where the leftovers from the farmers markets go when they cannot be sold any longer. The vegetables are in perfect condition but to the farmers they are no good as they need to be sold the same day. For hungry kids they are heaven sent.

When a family wants to enroll their child to attend the nursery they are often asked why. Many times the answer is simple: "Because this way my child doesn't have to go hungry". The nursery asks each family for a monthly but voluntarily contribution which is equivalent to $10. This may seem like a small sum but for many families this is equivalent to 5 kilo rice which will feed a family for a month.

With Christmas approaching many of these children will ask their parents for a gift, but how will these mothers be able to give their children a gift when they don't even have food on the table the whole month? This is where I want to reach out a helping hand to these families and children.

The nursery is behind on bills because many of the families cannot pay the monthly contribution. If the nursery does not raise enough money to cover their late bills until next year they will be forced to close. Which would put these families in a very difficult situation.

The Charity event for Vivendo e Aprendendo, which means Living and Learning, will be from Wednesday December 10 to Wednesday December 17th. The goal for the event is to raise at least $500 to be able to buy these children a gift and make sure they have a nice Christmas without going hungry and to help keep the nursery open.

How can I participate?

There are several ways you can participate and help. I am not asking for large sums nor that you only give and do not receive. You can blog about it, tweet about it, stumble and help spread the word.

To donate money: There is no maximum amount of how much you can donate but there is a minimum of $2. Please use the Donate button and pay via PayPal. You do not need to have a PayPal account to participate.

Please, I ask that you open your hearts for these children this year. Knowing that you have done something good for someone is a great gift. The children will be more thankful than we can ever imagine. I ask that you help as much as you can.

If you have any questions, you are more than welcome to email me at VAcharity@gmail.com

Thank you.