With being born into a family of farm workers and raised poor, I have always had compassion for the hungry and underprivileged. With my younger brother being mentally handicapped, I have also known the love and understanding such people need. I had a wonderful mother who taught me to always look for something good in a person instead of seeing only their bad side or faults they might have. I was also told to never deny food to a hungry child. Considering all of this, it has lead me to spend much of my life helping feed hungry children and needy families wherever I found them, and in whatever way I was able. Although I have seen many in need along the way, the greater majority of help I have tried to give didn't fully begin until the 1970s. It began with donating money for food baskets at Christmastime to help hungry families in America. I was also fortunate enough to be able to help shoolgirls' softball teams by buying their uniforms and equipment they needed. During that same period of my life, I did benefit shows for the Cancer and Heart Funds, as well as television benefit shows for the crippled and handicapped. There were also shows for local Sheriff's Boys & Girls Ranches. As I grew older and prospered more in my music profession, my help for the needy spread into countries other than just the United States.

     The first foreign country where I gave help to hungry and underprivileged children was in Columbia. I soon learned in Bogota alone, there were - and still are - thousands of hungry and uneducated kids who needed help, and still do today. I found the same thing in Mexico where I later began helping street children. With help from others, we gave assistance to the needy in Nairobi, Kenya. As the years passed, I eventually set up a food program called Bucketful Of Rice that began feeding street kids and hungry families in the Philippines. This particular program continues today with help being given to ones on the island of Mindanao and other areas.

     Although there are millions of hungry children and adults in the world, of all the countries where my helpers and I have tried to make life a little better for it's needy citizens, my heart and help have gone out more to the people of the Philippines. The hunger and hardship people face there daily seems to be something the world has either not known about, or has simply turned an uncaring shoulder toward. I have traveled to Manila, Davao, all the barangays (suburbs) of Bislig City, and other locations throughout the country where I have seen firsthand the poverty, sickness, and other hardships these souls endure on a daily basis. Hundreds, if not thousands die weekly from starvation and sickness. Sadly, like so many other third world countries, it's government refuses to help it's own people due to extreme corruption, bribery, and greed that run rampant. It is instilled so deeply in the minds of all who govern that the thousands, or millions of citizens who need help have no hope of ever having any. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people, but most all suffer from lack of food and medical care. I am told approximately 90% of ones who are lucky enough to leave and go abroad for a better life test positive for Tuberculosis on their medical exam. Mosquito-born dengue fever kills many of both children and adults. Other deseases abound there as well. There are many deaths from internal parasites caused by malnutrition.

So far, our Bucketful Of Rice and it's helpers have fed hundreds of street children and hungry families in Mangagoy, Dumpingan, Bongaitan, Pantalan, San Antonio, and other towns and barangays in the Surigao del Sur area of Mindanao. Help has also been given to others in Manila, Laguna, Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro, Kidapawan City, Cebu City, and other locations. With help from friends and other supporters worldwide, we have been fortunate enough to feed approximately 200 families left homeless and hungry from a major fire in 2006 that came close to destroying an entire town.

One of the biggest needs in the Philippines are jobs for it's citizens to work at and be able to support themselves. Today, at least 55% of people throughout the country are unemployed. The ones who are lucky enough to find work are usually paid no more than $3 a day. Many work 7 days a week. Most jobs are contract jobs that last only a few months, then others are hired to take their place. Many corrupted and uncaring employers demand sex from their female workers who comply due to their desperate need for jobs in order to survive and feed their families. Many children and street beggars are used for sexual purposes and forced to give their collections to their "street boss". In return, they might be given one or two meals a day for their work. Their typical meal is usually no more than a cup or small bowl of rice.

Our Bucketful Of Rice food program is now in search of foreign investors who might be interested in bringing new industry or other jobs of somekind to the people of the Philippines. As much as we would love to be able to continue feeding these beautiful people, no one man or food program can do it alone. These people need jobs to support themselves. Feeding ones there today means feeding them again tomorrow, and the day after. But someone needs to feed them until hope is created through means of jobs in order to survive on their own.

     For those who have never offered a helping hand to the needy, or stooped to feed a hungry child, you are missing one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences life can bring. The smiles and hugs they give you for the food you offer are the most precious ones you will ever receive. The child you feed today in America, in Africa, in Mexico, in the Philippines and other regions of the world, will never forget you. The child you feed and keep alive today could possibly grow up to be a world leader who remembers the pain of hunger, and the person or persons who offered food. Because of you, that one child could become a feeder of millions!

Mark Collier

Bucketful Of Rice