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Thank You from Star☆Danced!

Phew! It's been a whirlwind, these past two weeks. I'm a full-time freelancer, and the life of one can get pretty hectic, especially during the last and first months of the year. Things are finally settling down into their regular, manageable rhythm, and I'm glad I get to sit down and talk to you at leisure.

I just wish I had more festive news to start off with.

I placed a disclaimer in the original mechanics of this raffle: "I reserve the right to cancel the raffle if the amount of the donations does not meet or satisfactorily exceed the cost of the prize." I am, sadly, about to invoke this right.

Unfortunately, this raffle was not as successful as the last. The amount raised by this raffle did not dramatically exceed the cost of the prize; in fact, despite all of our efforts, the amount raised barely broke even with the cost of the prize. I… don't exactly know why this is so, but I have some ideas: perhaps the cost of $20 per entry was too steep for most, as compared to the $10 per entry of the previous raffle I hosted, or perhaps word of this raffle reached those who are more inclined towards the look of traditional resin dolls, as opposed to the more anime-oriented aesthetic of vinyl. I'm not exactly sure why things turned out the way they did, so if anyone would like to talk to me about it, my inbox is open.

Regardless of the reason, it's obviously time to retire the doll raffle as a fundraising venue. I think this mode of humanitarian action is no longer attuned to the common behaviors within the community – a community I'm honestly a little out of touch with, since I keep to my local community as opposed to sharing on larger online platforms – so now it's time to explore new ventures to make the world a better place. It's been a good run. This was a positive experience overall and I'm really glad to have done it when I did.

That said, I didn't want everyone to walk away with nothing. After waiting for so long – two weeks in internet time already constitutes as very long – and extending to me such kindness and patience, even inquiring if I was actually okay, I didn't want us to part ways without some sort of trumpet blowing. I want to do a little something to say thank you to everyone for walking with me in this journey.

I launched this doll raffle in response to the UNHCR's call for donations to provide the refugees with winter clothes, thermal blankets, heating stoves, and tent insulation for the winter. I wanted to give everyone a little something to remember this particular experience by, and so I got in touch with a good friend of mine to make what I wanted to achieve a reality. The result of our collaborative effort can be seen below:

This hat is hand-knit by Monique of A Little Wing. Monique makes the cutest doll hats, and I thought a little bonnet, arguably the cutest winter accessory ever, would make a nice souvenir for this raffle and its particular cause. This hat bears the Safer World colorway, inspired by the colors of the raffle: light gray, like the background of the original promo photo, white for the snow of winter, and light blue like the logo of the UNHCR, the beneficiary of this fundraiser. This colorway is not a part of her regular roster, and was made in commemoration of this fundraising endeavor.

Each individual person who sent a donation to the UNHCR through this raffle will receive one (1) hat as a token of my sincerest appreciation and gratitude. I will shoulder the cost of the hat and shipping. I already have your details, so all you have to do is reply to my email with your preferred size – MSD/YoSD or SD – and sit tight. If you sent in a donation, please check your email for more details.

Here's another photo of the hat on a doll, but without any filters or color editing this time:

As you can see, it's super cute and comes with a little pompom on top. Monique's hats are always so well made, and I'm glad that this turned out quite nicely.

I know it's not a Smart Doll, but it's just as sincere. I hope this makes you smile and keeps your doll's head warm, this little memento of the short time we spent together, clicking away for a good cause. Thank you so much for sticking with me, and for sticking up for others as well. Keep doing good. :3

P.S. For any questions or clarifications, just leave me a message!

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Thank You from Star☆Danced!

Wah! I apologize if this message of thanks came at a much later date than expected. December was a tumultuous time for me. Aside from the usual, extensive roster of social obligations that come with the holiday season, I was also transitioning into two new jobs – I scored two freelance gigs in the last month of the year, so the past few months have happily hectic for me. Extending the raffle deadline was as much for fundraising purposes as it was for myself. (⊙﹏⊙;✿)

I'm writing this post to say thank you to everyone who supported this endeavor. Be it through monetary donations, shares on social media, or messages of kindness that didn't scathingly question my motivations or legitimacy HAHAHA huhuhu there goes my fear of hate mail ANYWAY, I just wanted to take this time to say that I appreciated everything and everyone that I encountered during this small attempt at making the world a better place.

I am staunch member of the working middle class living in a big and bustling city. I have an expensive hobby that gives me so much joy, and I am also lucky enough to have sources of income that allow me to support this hobby while putting funds for the future aside. Sure, I do my fair share of grunt work, and so do all of my friends; but, being born into the positions we were is privilege enough, and sometimes privilege can both insulate and isolate us from the things that truly matter.

I started doing these fundraising raffles as a way of marrying my hobbies with humanitarian causes. As a college student, a saying a lot of us lived by is that by Fredrick Buechner: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet." The challenge has always been rendering a service to the world without compromising personal happiness and fulfillment. Now, I find myself humbled at the connections made with just a few clicks and the ripples of change wobbling their way across the internet. These off-beat endeavors are really a road less traveled by, and that, I think, has made all the difference.

I'll have more to say about the results of the raffle very soon; for now, I just wanted to get my thoughts and glad tidings out there. Hugs to everyone. (◠‿◠✿)

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The doll raffle for a cause I'm hosting was originally supposed to end in four days. Now, it'll end in twenty!

In the interest of raising more funds for the UNHCR and their efforts to provide winter survival gear for thousands of refugee families in Europe, I am extending the #saferworld doll raffle for a cause. The deadline for all donations is now January 3 2016, Sunday, 11:59pm. (This is in Philippine Standard Time. Click here to check the time in Manila.) I'm hoping that extending it to after the hectic holiday season will give more people time and reason to donate! If you've been looking for a good cause to share your holiday cash or thirteenth month pay with, then I hope you can consider this one!

Make a donation of at least $20 directly to the UNHCR for a chance to bring home one of Danny Choo's Smart Dolls! A Smart Doll retails for roughly $485, so wouldn't owning one at 1/25th of the original cost be a sweet deal? Your donation will help the UNHCR provide a refugee family with winter clothes, thermal blankets, heating stoves, and tent insulation – isn't that even sweeter?

Please click here for the full mechanics of the raffle! Please reblog and spread the word for a #saferworld! 

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186 notes and counting! Thank you for the support! 

This post is also available for sharing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Did you know that the “S-M” in Smart Doll stands for “Social Media”? Let’s harness social media and make magic happen!

I started hosting raffles because I hated feeling helpless. Physical distance disconnected me from the people I wanted to empathize with and the people who could empathize along with me; the Internet allows me to close these gaps and affect change from behind a screen, connecting with other like-minded individuals from all over the world along the way. 

Affect change from behind a screen. Click away for a good cause. Social media for a #saferworld.

A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced:

KEEP SAFE SOMEONE SAFE AND WARM THIS WINTER.

SAFER WORLD: A DOLL RAFFLE FOR A CAUSE

Paris, France. November 2015. Shootings. Suicide Bombings. Death of 129, Injury of 415.  

Beirut, Lebanon. November 2015. Suicide Bombings. Death of 43, Injury of 200.

Baghdad, Iraq. November 2015. Suicide Bombings. Death of 19, Injury of 41.

More or Less, Give or Take. More or Less, Give or Take. More or Less, Give or Take.

Run a Google search on the distance between your country’s capital city to any of those listed above. A number will be shown to you. This number, small or big, is an indicator that someone, somewhere, on the very same earth that you live and breathe and read this text at leisure in, is suffering. Someone, through the severely misguided or profoundly wicked actions of another person, is suffering and in need of your help.

Hi. My name is Trisha Descallar. I’m a BJD owner from Manila, in the Philippines. I am 10,737 kilometers away from Paris, 8,695 kilometers away from Beirut, and 7,890 kilometers away from Baghdad. Does that matter, though? Isn’t distance simply a measure of how far love can travel? (I read that on one of those typography quote squares, by the way – you know, the kinds with fancy font combinations on a background of bokeh.)

In 2011, we raised USD 332.00 (PHP 14,445.00) for Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan’s Tropical Storm Sendong relief operations. (To read more about that endeavor, please click here.)

In 2013, we raised USD 2,583.41 (PHP 114,051.67) for the Philippine Red Cross’ Typhoon Yolanda relief operations. (To read more about that endeavor, please click here.)

It’s 2015. What can we raise, aside from awareness, for the UNHCR?

UNHCR stands for (the Office of the) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is also known as the UN Refugee Agency. (Click here to learn more about them.) As their name implies, this particular wing of the United Nations is in charge of giving refugees the protection and support they deserve as human beings.

“Refugee” has been somewhat of a buzzword as of late; all of the above attacks are linked or being linked to the refugee crisis, one way or another, with much fear-mongering fueling anti-refugee sentiment.

These refugees aren’t scary; they’re scared, just like everybody else. They are fleeing en masse to Europe in an attempt to save themselves from the very same acts of terrorism that most people are starting to blame them for.

According to the UNHCR, almost 800,000 people have managed to escape to Europe by land and sea. Another 15 million people are still on their way to Europe and the promise of safety it holds.  

Where does that place us?

Forgive the possibly misplaced Game of Thrones reference, but winter is coming  – literally. Aside from the lack of food, water, and shelter, millions of displaced people – people like you and me! – will soon have the unforgiving cold to contend with.

The UNHCR has launched a Winter Crisis Appeal. The UNHCR currently in need of donations  in order to continue their operation of stockpiling and distributing the necessary supplies to refugee families to keep them safe and warm throughout the winter ahead. I am writing this to now appeal to my fellow doll owners, hobbyists, and enthusiasts. If we can take a little out of our respective doll funds, wouldn’t that go a long way?

Your are one click and 20 USD away from providing refugees in need with winter clothes, thermal blankets, heating stoves, and tent insulation.

You are also one click and 20 USD away from bringing home a Smart Doll!

KEEP SOMEONE SAFE AND WARM THIS WINTER! DONATE 20 USD TO THE UNHCR AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A SMART DOLL OF YOUR CHOICE!

The mechanics and other need-to-knows are below the cut, so keep reading!

Keep reading

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced:

KEEP SAFE SOMEONE SAFE AND WARM THIS WINTER.

SAFER WORLD: A DOLL RAFFLE FOR A CAUSE

Paris, France. November 2015. Shootings. Suicide Bombings. Death of 129, Injury of 415.  

Beirut, Lebanon. November 2015. Suicide Bombings. Death of 43, Injury of 200.

Baghdad, Iraq. November 2015. Suicide Bombings. Death of 19, Injury of 41.

More or Less, Give or Take. More or Less, Give or Take. More or Less, Give or Take.

Run a Google search on the distance between your country’s capital city to any of those listed above. A number will be shown to you. This number, small or big, is an indicator that someone, somewhere, on the very same earth that you live and breathe and read this text at leisure in, is suffering. Someone, through the severely misguided or profoundly wicked actions of another person, is suffering and in need of your help.

Hi. My name is Trisha Descallar. I’m a BJD owner from Manila, in the Philippines. I am 10,737 kilometers away from Paris, 8,695 kilometers away from Beirut, and 7,890 kilometers away from Baghdad. Does that matter, though? Isn’t distance simply a measure of how far love can travel? (I read that on one of those typography quote squares, by the way – you know, the kinds with fancy font combinations on a background of bokeh.)

In 2011, we raised USD 332.00 (PHP 14,445.00) for Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan’s Tropical Storm Sendong relief operations. (To read more about that endeavor, please click here.)

In 2013, we raised USD 2,583.41 (PHP 114,051.67) for the Philippine Red Cross’ Typhoon Yolanda relief operations. (To read more about that endeavor, please click here.)

It’s 2015. What can we raise, aside from awareness, for the UNHCR?

UNHCR stands for (the Office of the) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is also known as the UN Refugee Agency. (Click here to learn more about them.) As their name implies, this particular wing of the United Nations is in charge of giving refugees the protection and support they deserve as human beings.

“Refugee” has been somewhat of a buzzword as of late; all of the above attacks are linked or being linked to the refugee crisis, one way or another, with much fear-mongering fueling anti-refugee sentiment.

These refugees aren’t scary; they’re scared, just like everybody else. They are fleeing en masse to Europe in an attempt to save themselves from the very same acts of terrorism that most people are starting to blame them for.

According to the UNHCR, almost 800,000 people have managed to escape to Europe by land and sea. Another 15 million people are still on their way to Europe and the promise of safety it holds.  

Where does that place us?

Forgive the possibly misplaced Game of Thrones reference, but winter is coming  – literally. Aside from the lack of food, water, and shelter, millions of displaced people – people like you and me! – will soon have the unforgiving cold to contend with.

The UNHCR has launched a Winter Crisis Appeal. The UNHCR currently in need of donations  in order to continue their operation of stockpiling and distributing the necessary supplies to refugee families to keep them safe and warm throughout the winter ahead. I am writing this to now appeal to my fellow doll owners, hobbyists, and enthusiasts. If we can take a little out of our respective doll funds, wouldn’t that go a long way?

Your are one click and 20 USD away from providing refugees in need with winter clothes, thermal blankets, heating stoves, and tent insulation.

You are also one click and 20 USD away from bringing home a Smart Doll!

KEEP SOMEONE SAFE AND WARM THIS WINTER! DONATE 20 USD TO THE UNHCR AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A SMART DOLL OF YOUR CHOICE!

The mechanics and other need-to-knows are below the cut, so keep reading!

DONATE 20 USD TO THE UNHCR AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A SMART DOLL OF YOUR CHOICE!

MECHANICS

0. This raffle is open internationally.

1. Each donation of 20 USD (Twenty American Dollars) is the equivalent of one (1) raffle entry.

There is no limit to the amount of raffle entries you can earn, so the more you give, the more chances you get of winning.

2. Make your donation directly to the UNHCR by visiting the UNHCR Donation page.

Make a Single Gift of 20 USD (Twenty American Dollars) for one (1) raffle entry. 

You may choose to enter a larger amount to earn more raffle entries. (Example: 120 USD = 6 Raffle Entries)

Should you choose to make a larger donation, please increase it by increments of 20. Any amount less than 20 will not be counted toward a raffle entry. (Example: 115 USD = 5 Raffle Entries)

Fill up the form with the necessary details and click Make Donation.

You will be redirected to the UNHCR's WorldPay server, which will give you the options of making your donation via Paypal, Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Follow the instructions until you reach the confirmation page.

ATTENTION, PEOPLE FROM THE PHILIPPINES! If you would like to make a donation but do not have a Paypal account or credit card, please click here for  instructions on how to donate via bank deposit through BDO, BPI, or Metrobank.

3. View your donation confirmation.

You will receive a donation confirmation from WorldPay and the UNHCR via email shortly after making your donation. 

Take a screenshot of the donation confirmation. Make sure your the Transaction Details section is clear and visible.

4. Show me a screenshot of your donation confirmation.

This step is crucial for your donation to be acknowledged. If you do not complete this step, you will not be entered into the raffle.

Attach the screenshot of your donation confirmation to an email attached to trishadescallar[dot]dollraffle[at]yahoo[dot]com.

The subject of your email should be UNHCR DONATION - [YOUR LAST NAME, YOUR FIRST NAME].

In the body of your email, please include the following information:

Full Name: Facebook URL: (Write N/A if this is not applicable to you.) Tumblr ID: (Write N/A if this is not applicable to you.) Instagram ID: (Write N/A if this is not applicable to you. Shipping Address: Country:  Telephone Number: (Home/Cellphone, Please Specify) Email Address: WorldPay Transaction ID: (You will find this in the body of your confirmation email.) Total Donation in US Dollar: Doll of Choice: (001 Mirai Suenaga, 002 Kizuna Yumeno, 007 Ebony Futaba, 008 Ivory Futaba)

4. I will reply to your email to acknowledge your donation in 72 hours or less.

If I haven't responded to your email after 72 hours, please resend your email.

5. Entries will be accepted until January 3 2016, Sunday, 11:59pm, Philippine Standard Time (PHT).

Any entries sent or received after this time will not be counted for the raffle draw. Feel free to continue donating to the UNHCR, though!

What time is it in the Philippines? Click here and do the necessary conversion.

6. A winner will be selected via random.org's List Randomizer.

The number of times your name will be placed in the list will be equal to the number of raffle entries you have. (Example: 40 USD Donation = 2 Raffle Entries = 2 Times Name Placed!) 

The winner of the raffle will be whoever comes out as the first name on the generated list.

The drawing will be done in front of an group of witnesses and recorded on video for transparency purposes. 

7. The winner will be made known to the public and will be contacted via email.

The winner’s username and first name will be published on Tumblr and Facebook in a congratulatory photo!

I will also contact the winner via email through the email address provided.

The winner must acknowledge their win within by responding to my email within 72 hours. After 72 hours, a new winner will be drawn at my discretion.

8. I will coordinate with the winner in private about how the prize will be delivered.

Updates regarding this process will be posted at length on Tumblr and Facebook.  

RAFFLE PRIZE

1. The winner of the raffle will receive one (1) Smart Doll of their choice.

2. The choices available are as follows:

Smart Doll 001 Mirai Suenaga Smart Doll 002 Kizuna Yumeno Smart Doll 007 Ebony Futaba Smart Doll 008 Ivory Futaba

3. The raffle prize is only valid for the dolls and their default inclusions (e.g. wig, clothes, etc.) as listed in the links above. The raffle prize is non-transferable and is not convertible to cash.

4. The raffle prize does not include the cost of shipping. The winner will shoulder the cost of shipping.

5. Should the winner of the raffle wish to avail of additional items or accessories (e.g. clothes, accessories, extra hands, etc.) in order to save on shipping and receive them alongside the raffle prize, this can be done. The winner of the raffle will pay for the additional items. The details of this will be discussed with the winner. 

6. The raffle prize does not include any customs fees or taxes that the postal system of the winner's home country will impose on the package containing the raffle prize. The winner will shoulder whatever taxes or fees that the package may incur.

DISCLAIMER

I am a private individual. All costs that this raffle will incur, including but not limited to the aforementioned prize, will be shouldered by me.

I am not affiliated with Smart Doll or the UNHCR.

No money will go through me. All of the donated money goes directly to the UNHCR via their Donation Page.

I reserve the right to cancel the raffle if the amount of the donations does not meet or satisfactorily exceed the cost of the prize.

I reserve the right to modify the prize selection depending on the release of new Smart Doll models. 

QUESTIONS? CLARIFICATIONS?

Please feel free to reach me through the following means:

Email

Tumblr Ask

Facebook Message

I will do my best to respond promptly!

SHARE SHARE SHARE!

A signal boost is always appreciated! If you are unable to make a monetary donation at this time, or even if dolls aren’t your thing, please reblog and share! Someone following you might be interested and able to join! 

Feel free to snag the photo above and share it through any and all your social media channels! 

Use the hashtag #saferworld! Make the world a safer, warmer place for the refugees in need!

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THANK YOU FROM STAR☆DANCED!

The response to my recently concluded doll raffle has been nothing short of overwhelming. This fundraising endeavor wouldn't have been successful and meaningful without your likes and shares on social media, monetary donations, and emails of encouragement. I am truly humbled by the outpouring of love and support from the members of the doll community the world over. 

Together, we were able to raise P114,051.67 (or $2,583.41 when converted) for the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda through the relief efforts of the Philippine Red Cross. Maraming salamat po. Thank you very much. ♡

AND NOW...

THE WINNER IS...

☆☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆ ☆

☆ ENTRY 207! ERICK REYES FROM AUSTRALIA! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST WON A LUTS TINY DELF ALICE! ☆

I drew the winner of the raffle in front of a couple of members of my local doll community, ManikaManila, and got it on video for transparency purposes. You can view the video here to see the moment of the draw. In the video, aside from drawing the winner, I say some thanks and talk a little bit about how the entries were tallied.

A short while later, after that first video was taken, we slowly realized that Erick Reyes is actually also our friend, Pao, a fellow ManikaManila member who moved to Australia a year ago. What a stroke of luck and coincidence that the winner was someone so surprisingly close to home!

Once we realized that Pao was the winner, we ditched the formalities and shot a more personalized video via webcam. Congrats, Pao! Watch us scream our delight at you here. If you're currently wearing earphones, you might want to take them off or turn down the volume. XD

Again, a big, big thank you to everyone who participated in and supported this raffle! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Maraming, maraming salamat po! 

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced

AN INTERNATIONAL DOLL RAFFLE FOR THE FILIPINO VICTIMS OF TYPHOON HAIYAN

Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Typhoon Yolanda, is the the world’s strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit land. It made landfall in the Philippines early last Friday, November 8 2013. The super typhoon with the international name Haiyan has left an unspeakable amount of devastation in its wake. The most recent news from the Department of Social Welfare and Development estimates a total of 9.5 million people affected by the typhoon, either by loss of property, livelihood, or loved ones, a number of the country’s poorest provinces ravaged directly by the typhoon.

My name is Trisha Descallar, and I am a BJD owner and enthusiast based in Manila, Philippines. My part of the country was not too terribly affected by the typhoon, but I am still, nonetheless, affected by the plight of my countrymen in the Eastern Visayas region.

In 2011, Typhoon Sendong hit my country, dumping one month’s worth of rain in just one night on Northern Mindanao. I was already very active in my local BJD community then, and decided to go out on a limb and combine my hobby and my desire to help in order to raise funds for relief operations. Utilizing the power of my friends and social media, that little endeavor of mine managed to raise $332 or P14,445, which was promptly turned over to Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan, a Jesuit organization based in my school, the Ateneo de Manila University.

Now, it is 2013, and I would like to once again appeal to the generosity of my friends in the doll hobby.

DONATE TO TYPHOON YOLANDA RELIEF OPERATIONS AND GET THE CHANCE TO WIN EITHER A MYSTIC KIDS 1/4 BJD OR A LUTS TINY DELF OF YOUR CHOICE!!!

Mechanics:

0. This raffle is open internationally. The mechanics in this post are for international users. Users from the Philippines, please click here.

1. Each donation of USD 10 (ten American dollars) is the equivalent of one (1) raffle entry. There is no limit to the amount of raffle entries you can earn, so the more you give, the more chances you get of winning.

2. Make your donation directly to the Philippine Red Cross via Paypal only. Their Paypal donation page can be found here.

3. Send a screenshot of your Paypal donation receipt along with the confirmation number to trisha.descallar@yahoo.com, along with the following details:

Email Subject: DOLL RAFFLE DONATION INTERNATIONAL - [LAST NAME, FIRST NAME]

Full Name:  Facebook URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Tumblr URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Shipping Address: Telephone Number: (Home/Cellphone, please specify) Email Address: Paypal Address: Confirmation #: (for Paypal donations only) Total Donation in US Dollar: Doll of Choice:

This step is crucial for your entry to be acknowledged.

3a. The donation receipt is what you get via email from Paypal. This receipt contains the donation details I need to verify your donation.

4. I will reply to your email to acknowledge your entry/ies, and assign you a raffle number. This number will be based on the chronological receipt of your message as it appears in my inbox. All entries will be replied to and acknowledged.

5. The accepting of raffle entries will close on December 13 2013, Friday, 11:59pm. Any entries received after this time will not be counted for the raffle draw.

5a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

6. A winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will be posted here on this blog on or before December 15 2013, Sunday.

6a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

7. I will coordinate with the winner in private about how the prize will be ordered and received. I will post status updates here about how that process is going here on this blog as well.

The Prize:

1. The winner of the raffle can choose either one (1) Mystic Kids 1/4 or one (1) Luts Tiny Delf. Only one (1) winner will be chosen and only one (1) doll will be won.

2. The Mystic Kids 1/4 will be ordered from Alice’s Collections and the Luts Tiny Delf will be ordered from Luts.

3. The choices available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Victor, Caroline, Evelyn, Francis, Gene, Illy, Lillian, Natalia, and Sean. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

3a. The resin colors available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Normal Pink, Normal Yellow, White. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4. The choices available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Hansel, Gretel, Louis, Alice, Peter, and Dorothy. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4a. The resin colors available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Real Skin Normal, Real Skin White, Real Skin Brown. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

5. The raffle prize is only valid for the dolls mentioned in #3 and #4. The raffle prize is non-transferable and is not convertible to cash.

6. The raffle prize is absolutely only for the blank head and doll body. This does not include any options such as faceups, body blushing, clothes, special resin colors, and the like.

6a. The winner, however, can choose to add the difference for these extra options. This will be discussed with the winner once the winner is chosen.

7. The raffle prize does not include the cost of international shipping. The winner will shoulder the cost of shipping from the doll company to the winner. 

7a. The raffle prize also does not include the customs fee or taxes that the postal system of the winner’s country will impose on that package. The winner will shoulder whatever taxes or fees that the package may entail.

Please help me spread the word by reblogging this post or sharing about it on Facebook. More entries means more money raised for the relief operations of the Philippine Red Cross, which will make both me and you very happy, a more entries means more chances for you to win a doll of your choice for a fraction of the cost, which will make you very happy. Everybody wins! 

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced

The response to the doll raffle I am hosting for the benefit of the Philippine Red Cross has been nothing short of outstanding. It's been a little less than a week since I first posted about it here on Tumblr and on Facebook, and the number of entries I've received so far has already hit the triple digits. With a combination of PHP 250 per entry for local entries and USD 10 for international entries, you can just imagine the amount we've been able to raise in this short span of time. That raffle will be open until December 13 2013, Friday, 11:59PM, Philippine Standard Time, and I'm hoping that the fire of compassion and generosity will continue to blaze strongly from here on end.

Bearing witness to the outpouring of love and support for my countrymen in the Eastern Visayas region from private citizens all over the world who take out money from their personal pockets has given me so much hope, that one day, eventually and hopefully in the near future rather than much later, the victims of Typhoon Haiyan will once again be able to rebuild their lives.

I chose Red Cross Philippines to be the benefiting organization for my own raffle, but it is important to note that there are a good number of other organizations all working towards the same goal. This is what today's public service announcement is about.

DONATE TO UNICEF PHILIPPINES AND GET THE CHANCE TO WIN AN IOS SEZZ HEAD WITH A PROPERTYOFTHEUCHIHA FACEUP!

I am organizing this second raffle, the prize of which is courtesy of my friend, Chin (@caravangirl on Tumblr). Chin is a member of my local doll community, ManikaManila, and she has so generously decided to donate the Immortality of Soul (IOS) Sezz head that she was planning on selling to this cause.

Chin's charity of choice is UNICEF Philippines. UNICEF, or the United Nations Children's Fund, is an organization that devotes its acts of humanitarian kindness to children in need. The local chapter of UNICEF is accepting monetary donations on behalf of the youngest victims of the Typhoon Haiyan, which the organization will use to provide the children with food, clean water, shelter, hygiene supplies, and a safe, loving environment in which the children can recover and heal. All the proceeds from this raffle go directly to the relief efforts of UNICEF Philippines. 

A donation of USD 5 to UNICEF Philippines is all you need to get started. If you want to help the children of the Philippines and possibly take home this handsome, brooding boy, please read the mechanics below.

Mechanics:

0. This raffle is open internationally. The mechanics in this post are for international users. Users based in the Philippines, please click here. 

1. Each donation of USD 5 (five American dollars) is the equivalent of one (1) raffle entry. There is no limit to the amount of raffle entries you can earn, so the more you give, the more chances you get of winning.

2. Make your donation directly to UNICEF Philippines via Paypal only.

2a. To make the donation, log into your Paypal and click Send Money. Set the currency to US dollars and input the amount you wish to donate. Select that you are paying for goods and services. Send the money to psfrmanila@unicef.org. These same instructions can be found on UNICEF Philippines' Typhoon Yolanda Emergency Response Page.

3. Send a screenshot of your Paypal transaction that shows the amount you sent to trisha.descallar@gmail.com, along with the following details:

Email Subject: UNICEF RAFFLE INTERNATIONAL - [LAST NAME, FIRST NAME]

Last Name: First Name: Facebook URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Tumblr URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Shipping Address: Telephone Number: (Home/Cellphone, please specify) Email Address: Paypal Address: Confirmation #: Total Donation in US Dollar:

This step is crucial for your entry to be acknowledged.

4. I will reply to your email to acknowledge your entry/ies, and assign you a raffle number. This number will be based on the chronological receipt of your message as it appears in my inbox. All entries will be replied to and acknowledged. If and only if you do not receive a response within forty-eight (48) hours, please resend your email.

5. The accepting of raffle entries will close on December 13 2013, Friday, 11:59pm. Any entries received after this time will not be counted for the raffle draw.

5a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

6. A winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will be posted here on this blog on or before December 15 2013, Sunday.

6a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

7. Once the winner is selected, I will coordinate with the winner in private about how the prize will be sent. I will post status updates here about how that process is going here on this blog as well.

The Prize:

1. The doll head is from Immortality of Soul (IOS) and the doll sculpt is Sezz.

2. This doll head was made in June 2009. It has a little yellowing. 

3. The doll head was purchased brand new directly from IOS, but arrived with some flaws. There is a slight gap between the head and the head cap, but this does not affect how the two are attached to one another. There is a very light stain in the front of the head cap, but it is not seen when the doll is wearing a wig. These flaws were present in the doll when it arrived from the company and are not a result of poor handling.

4. The prize is for the doll head only. The original box and papers will not be included.

5. The cost of shipping to the winner is included in this raffle. The winner will not have to pay any amount for shipping.

5a. Should the local post office of the winner place certain customs fees or taxes on the package upon its arrival to the winner's country, the winner will cover for these fees. 

6. The faceup on this head was painted by Anj/@propertyoftheuchiha. You can view more of her work on Flickr or Den of Angels. 

7. More photos of the doll head can be viewed here.

The success of all these endeavors depends on how many people we can reach. Your word of mouth matters. Please reblog and spread the word. Thank you very, very much for your support. Maraming, maraming salamat po.

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced

PROPERTYOFTHEUCHIHA OPENS INTERNATIONAL FACEUP SLOTS FOR HAIYAN RELIEF OPERATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINE RED CROSS

Anj (@propertyoftheuchiha on Den of Angels and Flickr) is the very talented faceup behind FabulaRasa Aesthetics. She is based here in the Philippines and I am proud to call her my friend. Slots for her faceups are very difficult to come by since she hasn't been open to new commissions in a good, long while; whenever she does open, though, they're gobbled up right away by her fans and followers eager to have their resin lovelies painted by her!

In response to the need for additional resources for relief operations, Anj has decided to open five (5) slots for international faceup commissions. 100% of the money raised through this endeavor will go to the relief operations of the Philippine Red Cross, and so I have decided to offer those who have their dolls painted by her slots to the currently ongoing doll raffle as well.

Yes, you read that right! Not only are you getting a fabulous faceup, but you might just take home a new doll too! Think of it as our way of saying thank you to all of you for sending our countrymen your love and generosity during these trying, trying times.

FOR A DONATION OF USD 70 TO THE PHILIPPINE RED CROSS, YOU CAN GET ONE (1) FACEUP BY PROPERTYOFTHEUCHIHA AND SEVEN (7) ENTRIES TO THE DOLL RAFFLE FOR YOUR CHOICE OF EITHER A MYSTIC KIDS 1/4 BJD OR A LUTS TINY DELF!

Click the photo above to read more details. You can also read @propertyoftheuchiha's post on Flickr or visit @propertyoftheuchiha's thread on Den of Angels.

Anj will be opening slots for her faceups today, November 15 2013, Friday at 12:00nn, Philippine Standard Time. Click her to check is the time in the Philippines right now. Once it reaches 12:00nn, send Anj a message via DOA or Flickr. Anj will reply to confirm whether or not you get the slot. Please be reminded that there are only five (5) slots for faceups available, and slots are taken on a first come, first served basis. Be quick on your fingers if you want that slot!

If you don't get a slot or just don't have a blank doll head that needs a faceup right now, that's okay! There are still many ways that you can help. You can still join the raffle and take home a new doll! Every donation of 10 USD gets you one (1) entry to the raffle. Click here for the full mechanics.

In the meantime, check out a small fraction of Anj's work! Yes, she is truly talented, so go wait around for her to open up faceup shop and grab this chance to do something good and get a good faceup too! View more of her work on Flickr or Den of Angels.

As per usual, we depend on the power of word of mouth to raise of awareness about the state of our country and the cause we wish to champion on their behalf -- or, in this case, it's word of reblog. Please reblog and spread the word!

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The link to pay is not working, it is saying the owners bandwith has been exceded (not mine, theirs). I really want to donate to help through here.

Hi! Thank you very much for bringing this up! I tried the website and you're right, the bandwidth limit message does show up in the Donate page. I tried it again now though, and it seems to be back!

If anyone has trouble accessing the link directly, maybe you can try visiting the Philippine Red Cross website first then clicking Donate from there. Though, the Donate page seems to be up and running again, so it should be fine!

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced

AN INTERNATIONAL DOLL RAFFLE FOR THE FILIPINO VICTIMS OF TYPHOON HAIYAN

Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Typhoon Yolanda, is the the world's strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit land. It made landfall in the Philippines early last Friday, November 8 2013. The super typhoon with the international name Haiyan has left an unspeakable amount of devastation in its wake. The most recent news from the Department of Social Welfare and Development estimates a total of 9.5 million people affected by the typhoon, either by loss of property, livelihood, or loved ones, a number of the country's poorest provinces ravaged directly by the typhoon.

My name is Trisha Descallar, and I am a BJD owner and enthusiast based in Manila, Philippines. My part of the country was not too terribly affected by the typhoon, but I am still, nonetheless, affected by the plight of my countrymen in the Eastern Visayas region.

In 2011, Typhoon Sendong hit my country, dumping one month's worth of rain in just one night on Northern Mindanao. I was already very active in my local BJD community then, and decided to go out on a limb and combine my hobby and my desire to help in order to raise funds for relief operations. Utilizing the power of my friends and social media, that little endeavor of mine managed to raise $332 or P14,445, which was promptly turned over to Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan, a Jesuit organization based in my school, the Ateneo de Manila University.

Now, it is 2013, and I would like to once again appeal to the generosity of my friends in the doll hobby.

DONATE TO TYPHOON YOLANDA RELIEF OPERATIONS AND GET THE CHANCE TO WIN EITHER A MYSTIC KIDS 1/4 BJD OR A LUTS TINY DELF OF YOUR CHOICE!!!

Mechanics:

0. This raffle is open internationally. The mechanics in this post are for international users. Users from the Philippines, please click here.

1. Each donation of USD 10 (ten American dollars) is the equivalent of one (1) raffle entry. There is no limit to the amount of raffle entries you can earn, so the more you give, the more chances you get of winning.

2. Make your donation directly to the Philippine Red Cross via Paypal only. Their Paypal donation page can be found here.

3. Send a screenshot of your Paypal donation receipt along with the confirmation number to trisha.descallar@yahoo.com, along with the following details:

Email Subject: DOLL RAFFLE DONATION INTERNATIONAL - [LAST NAME, FIRST NAME]

Full Name:  Facebook URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Tumblr URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Shipping Address: Telephone Number: (Home/Cellphone, please specify) Email Address: Paypal Address: Confirmation #: (for Paypal donations only) Total Donation in US Dollar: Doll of Choice:

This step is crucial for your entry to be acknowledged.

3a. The donation receipt is what you get via email from Paypal. This receipt contains the donation details I need to verify your donation.

4. I will reply to your email to acknowledge your entry/ies, and assign you a raffle number. This number will be based on the chronological receipt of your message as it appears in my inbox. All entries will be replied to and acknowledged.

5. The accepting of raffle entries will close on December 13 2013, Friday, 11:59pm. Any entries received after this time will not be counted for the raffle draw.

5a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

6. A winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will be posted here on this blog on or before December 15 2013, Sunday.

6a. The aforementioned time is based on the Philippine timezone. Please see here for details and do the necessary conversion. 

7. I will coordinate with the winner in private about how the prize will be ordered and received. I will post status updates here about how that process is going here on this blog as well.

The Prize:

1. The winner of the raffle can choose either one (1) Mystic Kids 1/4 or one (1) Luts Tiny Delf. Only one (1) winner will be chosen and only one (1) doll will be won.

2. The Mystic Kids 1/4 will be ordered from Alice's Collections and the Luts Tiny Delf will be ordered from Luts.

3. The choices available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Victor, Caroline, Evelyn, Francis, Gene, Illy, Lillian, Natalia, and Sean. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

3a. The resin colors available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Normal Pink, Normal Yellow, White. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4. The choices available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Hansel, Gretel, Louis, Alice, Peter, and Dorothy. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4a. The resin colors available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Real Skin Normal, Real Skin White, Real Skin Brown. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

5. The raffle prize is only valid for the dolls mentioned in #3 and #4. The raffle prize is non-transferable and is not convertible to cash.

6. The raffle prize is absolutely only for the blank head and doll body. This does not include any options such as faceups, body blushing, clothes, special resin colors, and the like.

6a. The winner, however, can choose to add the difference for these extra options. This will be discussed with the winner once the winner is chosen.

7. The raffle prize does not include the cost of international shipping. The winner will shoulder the cost of shipping from the doll company to the winner. 

7a. The raffle prize also does not include the customs fee or taxes that the postal system of the winner's country will impose on that package. The winner will shoulder whatever taxes or fees that the package may entail.

Please help me spread the word by reblogging this post or sharing about it on Facebook. More entries means more money raised for the relief operations of the Philippine Red Cross, which will make both me and you very happy, a more entries means more chances for you to win a doll of your choice for a fraction of the cost, which will make you very happy. Everybody wins! 

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A Public Service Announcement from Star☆Danced

A DOLL RAFFLE FOR THE VICTIMS OF TYPHOON YOLANDA

Typhoon Yolanda, the world's strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit land, made landfall in the Philippines early last Friday, November 8 2013. The super typhoon with the international name Haiyan has left an unspeakable amount of devastation in its wake. The most recent news from the Department of Social Welfare and Development estimates a total of 9.5 million people affected by the typhoon, either by loss of property, livelihood, or loved ones, a number of the country's poorest provinces ravaged directly by the typhoon.

My name is Trisha Descallar, and I am a BJD owner and enthusiast based in Manila, Philippines. My part of the country was not too terribly affected by the typhoon, but I am still, nonetheless, affected by the plight of my countrymen in Eastern Visayas.

In 2011, Typhoon Sendong hit my country, dumping one month's worth of rain in just one night on Northern Mindanao. I was already very active in my local BJD community then, and decided to go out on a limb and combine my hobby and my desire to help in order to raise funds for relief operations. Utilizing the power of my friends and social media, that little endeavor of mine managed to raise $332 or P14,445, which was promptly turned over to Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan, a Jesuit organization based in my school, the Ateneo de Manila University.

Now, it is 2013, and I would like to once again appeal to the generosity of my friends in the doll hobby.

DONATE TO TYPHOON YOLANDA RELIEF OPERATIONS AND GET THE CHANCE TO WIN EITHER A MYSTIC KIDS 1/4 BJD OR A LUTS TINY DELF OF YOUR CHOICE!!!

Mechanics:

0. This mechanics posted on this entry apply to  entries from the Philippines only. International users, please click here. 

1. Each donation of PHP 250 is the equivalent of one (1) raffle entry. There is no limit to the amount of raffle entries you can earn, so the more you give, the more chances you get of winning.

2. Make your donation directly to the Philippine Red Cross via bank deposit, Cebuana Lhuillier, or Paypal only. A list payment details can be found here.

3. Send a scan/photo of your validated transaction slip from the bank, or a screenshot of your donation receipt from Paypal to trisha.descallar@yahoo.com, along with the following details:

Email Subject: DOLL RAFFLE DONATION PH - [LAST NAME, FIRST NAME]

Full Name:  Facebook URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Tumblr URL: (write N/A if not applicable) Shipping Address: Cellphone Number:  Email Address: Confirmation #: (for Paypal donations only) Total Donation in Philippine Peso: Doll of Choice:

This step is crucial for your entry to be acknowledged.

4. I will reply to your email to acknowledge your entry/ies, and assign you a raffle number. This number will be based on the chronological receipt of your message as it appears in my inbox. All entries will be replied to and acknowledged.

5. The accepting of raffle entries will close on December 13 2013, Friday, 11:59pm. Any entries received after this time will not be counted for the raffle draw.

6. A winner will be selected via random.org. The winner will be posted here on this blog on or before December 15 2013, Sunday.

7. I will coordinate with the winner in private about how the prize will be ordered and received. I will post status updates here about how that process is going here on this blog as well.

The Prize:

1. The winner of the raffle can choose either one (1) Mystic Kids 1/4 or one (1) Luts Tiny Delf. Only one (1) winner will be chosen and only one (1) doll will be won.

2. The Mystic Kids 1/4 will be ordered from Alice's Collections and the Luts Tiny Delf will be ordered from Luts.

3. The choices available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Victor, Caroline, Evelyn, Francis, Gene, Illy, Lillian, Natalia, and Sean. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

3a. The resin colors available for the Mystic Kids 1/4 are as follows: Normal Pink, Normal Yellow, White. If the winner wants a Mystic Kids 1/4, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4. The choices available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Hansel, Gretel, Louis, Alice, Peter, and Dorothy. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

4a. The resin colors available for the Luts Tiny Delf are as follows: Real Skin Normal, Real Skin White, Real Skin Brown. If a winner wants a Luts Tiny Delf, these are the only choices available for the prize.

5. The raffle prize is only valid for the dolls mentioned in #3 and #4. The raffle prize is non-transferable and is not convertible to cash.

6. The raffle prize is absolutely only for the blank head and doll body. This does not include any options such as faceups, body blushing, clothes, special resin colors, and the like.

6a. The winner, however, can choose to add the difference for these extra options. This will be discussed with the winner once the winner is chosen.

Please help me spread the word by reblogging this post or sharing about it on Facebook. More entries means more money raised for the relief operations of the Philippine Red Cross, which will make both me and you very happy, a more entries means more chances for you to win a doll of your choice for a fraction of the cost, which will make you very happy. Everybody wins! 

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Star☆Danced: Major Overhaul

Hi, everyone! Long time, no post!

I fell off the face of the BJD hobby for quite some time. Real life got in the way! My dolls sat there quietly and my camera gathered dust in the corner of my room; being a graduating college senior is not the easiest thing to be!

I'm on semestral break now, and when I'm not catching up on missed sleep, I'm slowly trying to crawl back into my old internet haunts.

Star☆Danced is going through a major overhaul right now. To reflect my own personal style and the direction I've taken thus far, I've decided to purge all my old entries in order to have more flexibility with my post format and content. The only entries I kept are the ones from December last year, when I ran a fundraising venture for the victims of Typhoon Sendong; I need those for posterity, and because I still owe people prints! Goodness.

I'm also revamping the layout of this tumblr. I'm a bit rusty with my coding, I haven't had to tweak a layout in the longest time, so I'm still trying to remember how to do some things. Hmm.

Lots of things have changed for me since I last posted -- spoiler alert: doll family included. Can't wait to share them with you! But for now, hello and see you again soon, and thanks for still sticking with me here at Star☆Danced! :)

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The money we raised for Sendong relief operations went to Simbahan Lingkod Ng Bayan, a Jesuit organization based in my school, Ateneo de Manila University, sent via Paypal through one of my former professors, who is mobilizing Internet funds on behalf of Simbahan Lingkod Ng Bayan. (The rest of the fundraising efforts to his name are found here.) I couldn't send the total in one transaction because of Paypal fees, so I had to put some money into my account in order to cover for it.

According to him, Simbahan Lingkod ng Bayan will be emailing an official acknowledgement of the receipt of the donation once everything has been received, so I'll post about that too when I get the email. Fundraising is still ongoing, though; if you still want to help, please click here.

Classes resumed this week, and it's been really stressful. I had a huge paper due last Thursday, and at least two hundred pages of a novel that I should've read over the break. Ah, my doing nothing - absolutely nothing - over the holiday break is coming back to bite me in the butt. My body clock is still dysfunctional, and I have a two hundred or so pages to read by Monday for one class alone. （￣へ￣）There's been a slight delay with the prints, which I was supposed to mail by the 4th. So many things have been happening this week, and I haven't had the time do anything outside scrambling my academics together. I'll do my best to post them no later than the 16th. It's also been really hard coming up with nice, print-worthy work, since I don't wanna send you guys just any old thing. I made something in addition to the prints, so hopefully that'll make up for the delay. Huhu! (´・｀)

Again, thank you for your support of Star☆Danced's Sendong fundraising endeavors, and for your patience as I get these prints out and into the mail. Rest assured that everything is being done with a lot of love and a personal touch. ♡

Our regularly scheduled programming will now resume. See you arond!

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I wrote my Star☆Danced entry about raising funds for Sendong relief operations without any pretensions or high expectations. I just wanted to do something! I hoped to raise at least $50, $100 at best. It's not a lot, but I told myself that it was $100 that didn't exist prior to my post, and I operated under the hope that every little bit helps.

My initial goal was met by the second day. The days rolled by and new donation notifications greeted me when I checked my email each day. Finding that I had underestimated the generosity of others and the power of the Internet was a pleasant surprise indeed.

When all is said and done - which is another way of saying after Paypal fees but anyway -, I am pleased to report that we were able to raise $332.00/P14,445.00! That's not loose change at all, and it'll definitely go a long way in relief operations for the victims of Typhoon Sendong. Thank you to everyone who reblogged on Tumblr, shared on Facebook, and supported this little endeavor of mine. It's really a testament to how the little things can make big differences! 

The most special of special thanks to the lovely people on Tumblr (Nikki/@bentobride, Chin/@caravangirl, Jessica/@elebuufish, Elerem/@elledejavu, Janine/@shinkeismillenniumcreampuff, Catherine/@plasticjunkie, Kyra/@devolvedarling, and Clarissa/@bunnycatcher) and LiveJournal (Anj/@propertyoftheuchiha, Christina/@katnaper, and Mel/@moptech), and to my wonderful godmother, Ninang Lulu, for sharing their love to the people affected by Typhoon Sendong through Star☆Danced. I will always be grateful for your generosity. ♡

I removed the Paypal donation links from my original post. Since it will still show up in the reblogs of others, I'm hoping that it will be completely disabled in the next few days to prevent anyone from accidentally sending me money. If anyone still wants to give through Paypal, please click here and here. Again, I am no longer accepting money for Sendong relief operations - I use my Paypal account for personal purposes, and holding on to other people's money is such a stressful thing, haha! - so if you wish to give through Paypal, please click either of those two links.

I will post an accounting of sorts for all the money I received and how we got to this wonderful amount once I turn over all the funds to the proper channels. I'm just waiting for the holiday rush to die down and I'll get right on it, so that entry should be up within the week. I'm also working on print production this week, and with everything that needs to be done, I'm hoping to mail them by January 4.

Again, my deepest gratitude to everyone who pitched in. Have a blessed Christmas, everybody! You're all amazing. ☆

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Philippine Navy personnel arrange coffins that will be shipped with drinking water, clothes and other relief goods to the flood-stricken cities of Cagayan De Oro and Iligan aboard a navy ship in Manila, the Philippines on Dec. 20, 2011. The death toll from flash floods and mudslides is nearing 1,000, with tens of thousands affected.  (Photo: Aaron Favila / AP via MSNBC.com)

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Put yourself in her shoes.

You fall asleep snug in the arms on your mother, the rain pounds on the room but you are not afraid because beside you is your mother and you know you will be safe. All of a sudden, the waters enter your home and you are swept and carried away from all that is familiar and everyone whom you love.  You wake up dazed not knowing what has happened to your family members. You walk around aimlessly, only to find that your home and all that you love is gone…

Toys are effective tools in helping children heal from the trauma of loss. Stuffed toys are effective comfort givers in times of stress and trauma. To children, stuffed animals are more than toys, they become the vehicles by which they are able to tell their stories and release their pain. Stuffed toys or teddy bears are able to provide some degree of comfort in a scary world.

Please send clean, friendly looking toys in good condition (no pigs please, owing to cultural and religious sensitivities) in any size, but ideally, big enough for a child to hug.

A new and soft teddy bear costs about as much as a Starbucks frapuccino, a large sized milk tea or a ticket to the cinema — a small price that will go a long way in bringing back hope and a smile into a child’s life.

May you all be blessed to be a blessing to others. 

Drop-Off Points:

 Alabang: 12 Brentwood Street, Hillsborough, West Service Road, Alabang Look for Magding or JC

Greenhills: 

33 Madison Street, North Greenhills, San Juan. Look for Ann or Shirley

Asuncion Berenguer, Inc. 3/f Homestudio Building, 63 Connecticut Street (same building as Homestudio, Torch resto and Bose) Northeast Greenhills . Please leave with guard and indicate “Bears for YBHM”

Makati: 

The Citadel Inn, 5007 P. Burgos Street, Makati City c/o Andre Urbina

15 Garcia Villa St., San Lorenzo Village, Makati City c/o Marge 

Marikina: 1 Ferdinand Marcos Street, Industrial Valley Subdivision, Marikina Leave with guard please indicate “Bears for YBHM”

Paranaque:

Johnson and Johnson, Edison Road, Paranaque City (Edison is street by Zuellig) Leave with guard, indicate “Bears for YBHM”

14 C. Diamond Street. Greenheights Village Sucat Paranaqueque Look for Yaya Marlene

Quezon City:

A-2 Dona Sotera, Pilarville Subd.,Quezon City c/o Dennis Mariano

41 Milkyway Drive, Blue Ridge B, Quezon City Look for Lily

C1C3 Narra Heights Condominium #28, Mariposa Street, Quezon City (near Camp Crame)

Eastwood area : Unit 5c Eastwood Lafayette Tower 3, Eastwood Avenue Libis Q.C (In front of Watsons, near Mcdonalds) Leave with guard indicate “Bears for YBHM”

Please LIKE Yakapin: Batang Hilagang Mindanao’s FB Page for updates and repost to help bring hugs to the children affected by Sendong. Thank you and God bless!