To further our mission of community-based sustainability, we are using Ventures Early Learning Centre as a platform for intrinsic education—helping children learn through values, empathy, and real-life practice. In 2025, we launched the first Annual Christmas Learners’ Charity Drive, one of several programs hosted at the school to foster learners’ internal motivation to care, share, and serve.

The project encourages our young learners to sort through their own items—clothes, shoes, toys, and scholastic materials such as readers (books)—and donate those they have outgrown or no longer use. Working with local community leaders, we then identify vulnerable children in nearby communities who can benefit most from these items.

Although 2025 was our first year, the response was inspiring. Most participating children were under 10 years old, yet parents became actively involved as well, donating adult clothes and shoes for families in need. Learners were supported to go into the community and personally distribute the collected items. Parents later reported noticeable changes: their children became more generous, more reflective, and more aware of the realities faced by their peers.

In this first drive, children and parents together donated over 350 items, including clothing and shoes for boys, girls, men, and women, as well as bedding and 23 books, all distributed to vulnerable households in the surrounding communities. This project will continue as an annual tradition that builds empathy in children while strengthening a culture of sharing and solidarity.