It was a chilling cold morning of December when Jun called me asking, “Can we load some donations in your car?”. That was the day that we prepared for months, planning and fundraising. That day, 1 Act of Kindness went to Sitio Maysawa, Tanay, Rizal for an outreach program. This group is composed of professionals who are passionate about mountaineering. Through this passion that they are also able to conduct outreach programs for every climb.
Jun Eslava, one of the organizers approached me months ago asking if we (Mondo Project) are interested to join their outreach program and contribute through a fundraising activity. Income will come from selling shirts themed, Adventure.
There were tons of donation bags, each member of the group was occupied preparing all items for give away - loot bags for the kids and bags with noche buena goodies. It was heartwarming to see the smiles of the children gathering in place and excited for the program. There were lots of games, dancing and role-playing.
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“Hindi naman siya sumasayaw sa bahay, mahiyain yan eh!”, exclaimed by one of the kid’s parent.
Members of 1Act of Kindness also shared their experiences in doing activities like this and being able to help in each little possible way.
“We are also not rich. I was also raised in the mountains (in Mindanao). These donations did not come from us but from other people who also want to help.” Shared by Karl one of the organizers. He also added that our circumstances in life should not hinder us from extending our help to others. Money or time should not be a big issue because if your heart is really into service, you will make a way, you will strive and work harder for it.
The group distributed the goodies to the children, they were so happy and grateful for these gifts. These items may be considered small and not valuable for others but for these children, these gifts will help their families, gifts that will provide food on their table and gifts that will help them every day to achieve their dreams. The group went on and started to climb the mountain.
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The fundraising activity was really a challenge and everyone in the group put their time and effort in promoting the shirts. The group is determined to achieve their target amount to support the number of children in the community. Indeed, effort, motivation, and passion were needed to make this mission a successful one.
1 Act of Kindness is a group of regular people like us. But they find ways to help. Seeing the children smile means allot. It gave everyone the energy to jump-start their climb after an all day’s worth of the program.
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Mondo Project, in turn, will plant the trees for the shirts sold on this fundraising activity.
And here is the list of organizers for 1 Act of Kindness:
- Riccarl Flores
- Alberto Eslava
- Christine Isayas
- Yang Cuaresma
- Analyn Navarra
- Gian Navarra