Giving Back To The Community

It has been a while. I was really busy since the last time I posted a blog. 

WHAT IS CHARITY?

 Charity would be define as "giving voluntarily to those in need; alms-giving, an institution or an organization for helping those in need, a kindness, and love of one's fellow human being." For me, charity is something that should be coming from the heart--not just doing it because it'll look good on other people's eye. It is something that should be coming from within. Giving to charity is something that would benefit yourself as much or more than it benefits those to whom you give. That reason alone should be sufficient enough to justify the reason behind charity works and the like. 

Kadayawan Festival is an annual event in the city of Davao in the Philippines. The event is a celebration of life, thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of the culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living [Google]. I don't get to celebrate that because it is either I am back here in the US or it is my flight back to Manila. But, for my friends in the Philippines, it is a tradition that they must attend to. However, last year, my friends and I decided to do a feeding program and instead of them attending Kadayawan, they chose to do something worthwhile. 

August 17, 2012, We did a feeding program at Nuangan Elementary School. At 6AM, Ereka and I went to the market to buy all the ingredients,and materials that we need. We went back to my grandmother's house after to cook and prepare there. Jorena, Karleene, Sly, Trizia, Ysabelle, and Raphael went to my Grandmother's house at 7am. Others went to Ysabelle's crib to get the water jugs. While others, went to Raphael's crib to get bigger pans. Jorena and Ysabelle went to the market to buy breads and juices. We started cooking around 7:30AM and I think we were able to make four huge huge pans of Pancit. Then, we started packaging the sandwich, making the juices, and preparing stuffs that we need to bring. We thought that we would ran out of time and be late but thank God, we were able to finish everything before the scheduled feeding program. 

Some pictures of the preparation:

Kitchen Buddies

Packaging

The Gang

Packaging

 We are ready! Here we go!

ViP (our group name)

The Chairmans! :)

THE SCHOOL

Some Pictures from the Feeding Program

This event was an eye-opener not just for me but for my friends as well. Some of these kids walk from their houses to school. Others go to school with an empty stomach. If you think about it, you would ask yourself, "how do they function very well in school?" The answer is, some of them sleep, some of them can't focus and some of them don't go back to school after lunch because it is too tiring and sometimes they sleep at night without eating. 

Lesson Learned: Be thankful for all the things that you have. Be grateful of the life that you have. Because, you are still fortunate than others. 

 It was a great experience. It was a collaborative effort. It was rewarding. We made the kids and teachers happy. We felt very very happy. We learned as a whole that, by giving to a charity helps our communities better places to live by helping to provide something that other people who might not have access to anything. Also, those who witness our giving are reminded that we are all interdependent on one another. That reminder can have a viral effect and motivate countless others to follow us--an example. It can motivate others to do their own feeding programs and other charitable events. Other people believe that what they give to other people is returned to them threefold, sevenfold, or even more. The only way to find out is to START.

Anything for someone who is in need is better than no gift or not doing something for them. Start at a level that you are comfortable with. Just do what you can and give your best in doing it. Do it one step at a time. Do it when you feel able and willing to. See how your generosity does for others, and also observe the good that it does for you. Most importantly, DO IT WHOLE-HEARTEDLY.