Written by: Ate Ren Dela Cruz, Board Member
“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.” Henry David Thoreau’s quote holds true for those individuals who strive to do something to help the world, however way they can. At U! Happy we meet individuals such as those, who take time to help those in need, and do so out of the overflow of their hearts, like ate Bea Toledo.
To celebrate her birthday, ate Bea, the rest of the volunteers, and the team, headed over to Living Faith in Jesus Ministry last August 21, where we spent the day with 50 kids under their care. Living Faith is a community of servants that reaches out to people who are in need — by teaching, training and providing for their needs to enable them to become effective ministers of God and man, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
The event started with the customary Getting-to-Know, and we made sure the kids and volunteers would get to interact more by grouping them into smaller teams. After getting-to-know came games, to test each other’s various skills and get the competition going!
After all the excitement and laughter, it was time for the rest of the program ate Bea selected, which integrated a lot of the arts! Apart from a Face Painter, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed, we also had a song and dance that showcased much talent and had everyone grooving and singing along. To get everyone’s creative juices flowing even more, the kids were then treated to an arts and crafts workshop! It was such a delight seeing the little ones working on their pieces of art, and our volunteers being hands-on in ensuring they were getting the instructions and creating the day’s art project.
Pretty soon, it was time for meals, which the volunteers served for their newfound friends. Our ates and kuyas made sure to bond with them even more as they sat and ate together, enjoying one another’s company. But the love didn’t stop there. Ate Bea and the volunteers also distirbuted giveaways in the form of school supplies to the kids, much to their delight.
To cap off an amazing event, we greeted ate Bea a happy birthday, and took a photo to capture such a fun-filled celebration. Thank you ate Bea for choosing to spend your special day in a special way!
