It is better to give than to receive, and many Bermuda businesses do just that at Christmas, setting aside a portion of their sales for charity.

One charity that is benefiting is the Cornerstone Foundation, the one-year-old charitable arm of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship, which has raised thousands of dollars for the less fortunate in Bermuda and around the world.

On Friday, the first night of late night shopping, jewellers E.R. Aubrey will get into the giving mood, when it will donate ten percent of all sales from its four stores to the foundation.

And a week later, artist Lisa-Anne Rego will be presenting ?Michael Healey and the Caledonian Collection? in the ACE Tempest RE Atrium with a donation to the foundation.

?When I heard about the impact Cornerstone Foundation is having, I decided I wanted to get involved,? said Linda Rego-Gittings, co-owner of the E. R. Aubrey stores. ?We thought that the best thing we could do would be to dedicate a percentage of the sales of one day to the Foundation.

We would be raising money in support of the foundation?s programmes while we were raising awareness of Cornerstone Foundation.?

Pastor Gary Simons, president of Cornerstone Foundation, is grateful for the response.

?As I?ve travelled around the world, I have been struck by the incredible need that exists among people, not only people in third world countries, but people here in Bermuda as well.

?I have also seen that compassion is a characteristic in most people. It is rare to find an individual who looks at the plight of a starving child, or a war-torn country, and finds their heart unmoved. And that?s what compassion is ? a sorrow for the suffering of another coupled with an urge to help.

?We founded Cornerstone Foundation to put that compassion into action ? to take the heart ?s feeling and extend our hand to touch the heart of another. The Foundation implements programs that focus on improving living conditions and education, and that offer opportunities for the improvement in the quality of life of orphans, foster children, at-risk youth, and the elderly. Operation Miracle, Chain Reaction Bermuda, Prison Inmate Mentoring, and Youth Impact are just a few of the programmes which enable the Cornerstone Foundation to put compassion into action.?

In addition to supporting local charities, the Foundation has also contributed to overseas efforts.

?In December we have a group of volunteers that have decided to spend the beginning of their Christmas season a little differently,? Pastor Simons said.

About twenty people will be travelling to Belize to give an orphanage a makeover and make Christmas special for forty children. They will be repairing plumbing, painting, fixing furniture ? all sorts of things. People have purchased donation cards for a variety of necessities for these children. ?

The Foundation has also contributed more than $22,000 in support of the Restorers of Hope Home in Uganda founded by Christine Atcheson, and in Zambia, the Foundation has been able to fund 25 orphans in Chingola, covering their food, clothing and educational needs.

Cornerstone Foundation also offers support to the Rafiki Foundation, an organisation rescuing and educating orphans in ten of the neediest African nations.

In September, the Foundation hosted the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and raised over $23,000 for a scholarship programme it began for Foster Care Children, that will enable the children to further their higher education.

In October, Lusso marked their first anniversary by hosting a party at which $11,000 was raised for the Cornerstone Foundation.