New clothes for the poorest children in Manila

Cathy Morton created Project Lily, a St Peter's initiative to buy new clothes to give to poor children in their upcoming youth mission to the Philippines. Photo/Andrew Warner

The first time Cathy Morton visited the Philippines, she was devastated by the crippling poverty she saw.

The second time, the St Peter's volunteer youth leader was prepared. Cathy had hundreds of items of brand new clothing to give to the children who needed it the most.

"When we came back home after our first trip I said to my husband 'I would really would love to give these kids something'. Considering new clothes are so cheap here, especially when there's sales at the Warehouse etc, wouldn't it be great to be able to give them something new?

"I felt everyone deserves to have something new. I wanted them to understand that by getting new clothes, they are valued ... people have gone out, selected and bought something just for them.

"One boy he kept smelling his clothes. He had never smelt new clothes before," Cathy says.

She calls it Project Lily (named after local mission couple Lily and Danny Besoro, as well as a verse from The Bible).

Cathy will visit the Philippines with St Peter's Youth in July. St Peter's in the City is partnered with children's charity Ruel Foundation which sends a team over to the crisis centre every two years.

The St Peter's group will be Cathy, husband Dave, daughter Grace, 17, youth pastor Rob Williams, and 10 youth with adults. They will visit Tondo, one of the poorest and underdeveloped areas of Manila which contains many of the city's slums.

Next on the itinerary will be the Calapan Orphanage and Crisis Centre for eight days.

The Ruel Foundation provides medical care for malnourished children and their Give a Smile initiative helps children with lip and cleft palates.

The group help to identify these children as well as malnourished children with their feeding programme. They will help in many practical ways including education. Project Lily will supply new clothes for the children.

"This time I have been given more clothes, around 520 single items so far. That means that over 300 kids will receive a set of clothing - not just one thing."

"We are quite comfortable here in Tauranga and we take a lot for granted," Rob says. "It makes an impact on them. Some of the kids who have attended in the past have been inspired to pursue a vocation that serves a need."

If you would like to help, drop off new clothing at St Peter's in the City.

*Ruel Foundation is having a fundraising night at Rialto Cinema on June 28, 8pm featuring The Shack movie. Tickets are $25 including nibbles and goody bag. Email info@ruelfoundation.com