READPHILIPPINES
TORONTO CANADA
ABOUT US
Our Core Principles
Influence - Our reading, literacy and critical and creative thinking workshops and book provision program produce a culture of readers and creative thinkers.
Focus - Leveling our energies, creativity and assets will lead to intended results.
Strategy - Studying and addressing source of problems and averting present and future education issues.
Out-Reach - Serving individuals, families, schools, organizations and communities especially the underprivileged and located at the remotest part of the world to provide education.
Giving - Offering scholarships and grants are essential in fostering literacy and education.
Transformation - Designing reading, literacy and skills program, incorporating technology in the classroom and building libraries.
Partnership - Working with literacy organizations and educators to maximize our combined knowledge, understanding, expertise and resources will guarantee positive outcomes.
When tropical depression Winnie hits Philippines on November 29, 2004, an estimate of 1,500 people were dead and missing and damage was at 678 million pesos. Region IV in southern Luzon was mostly affected by the storm including the province of Infanta, Quezon where PICAB Elementary School is located. The storm ravaged the school and books at the library. It was within the school’s dreadful predicament that these four Filipino-Canadians in Toronto namely Bonette, Jimmy, Ninya and Eleonor decided to collaborate on A Book, A Gift, A Life campaign to purposely help re-stock PICAB’s library with books. And just like any other outstanding stories, theirs began with a mission which led them to establish ReadPhilippines Toronto on November 11, 2005.
PICAB Elementary School has to be rebuilt and its library needs to be filled-up with books for the many children who need it.
ReadPhilippines Toronto promotes reading and literacy through book provision program and literacy workshops for children, schools and communities in the Philippines. Our priority are the underprivileged children and those living in the remote areas of the country. We send new and good-quality used books ranging from reference books to hard and paperback novels to recreational reading materials and informative magazines. We strongly encourage individuals and organizations to donate used books as well as monetary donations to defray shipping costs. We aim to fill up the empty shelves of these schools with books that children need. We aim for these books to be available in the school libraries where they are mostly needed as soon as possible.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
We announce our need for books through word of mouth, public announcements, website, social media and flyers. We request places like a church or a community centre to be used as our drop-off location. We label them, pack in a box (24x18x24) and then ship via a cargo office in Toronto. Our funding is scarce so members chip-in for the shipping cost. Shipment to Manila normally takes 6 to 8 weeks and more if sent to provinces.
WHY DO WE DO IT?
Books educate and are a portal to the many aspects of life. Books are the basic tools for literacy and education but most of the children and adults in the Philippines grow up without access to books. So for many of them, books are truly a gift of life and hope. We also want to save unused books from ending up in landfills. Collecting and putting them back in library shelves and in the hands of people who need them not only impact their lives and the society but the environment as well.