Written by: Kuya Glenn, President
Last Sunday’s event featured a very intimate birthday celebration with Ate Darlene and 25 kids from Operation Blessing. Our bubbly sponsor was joined by her parents, friends and loved ones at KFC along Ortigas Extension in Cainta. It was a special affair that did not need balloons, party hats and even loud music because there was more than enough excitement from both the kids and volunteers to take off from.
As in any event, there’s an ordinary coyness among the volunteers being their first time to meet the kids. To shake this off, the kuyas and ates fearlessly introduced themselves by presenting their celebrity look-alikes. Yes, they were quite bold with it and the proverbial ice was definitely broken.
We saw a total of five (5) groups get formed – a mix of volunteers and kids. We had team XB, Naruto, Box, Bebeland and Momoland (they came up with their names from anything under the sun). We first played the Show-Me-Your-Face game because there is no better way to bond than to make ridiculous faces together. In this game, we gave different scenarios which the teams had to react to through facial expressions like being ‘super init,’ starving, seeing Coco Martin in person and having diarrhea. XB was the most ‘ridiculous’ and won the game.
How-High-Can-You-Go was the next game played. Like the first game, this one also had categories. The teams submitted the highest number they can enumerate from the category given (i.e. round fruits, green vegetables, Disney characters, etc.). This called for a lot of teamwork as they put their brains together. Team Bebeland emerged the brightest in this contest.
An enriching and entertaining storytelling affair was next with Kuya Bryan from Adarna Storytellers. His theatrical gestures and high-pitched expressions brought his stories to life while also presenting meaningful values for the kids.
Ate Blanca then added a ‘depth of color’ to the program with her Art Workshop as the day’s featured activity. She taught the kids how to make a simple but imaginative quilling design. Quilling is a form of art that makes use of paper strips rolled, shaped and glued together. Aside from stretching their artistic fibers, the kids also got to exercise their listening skills through the instructions being given by Ate Blanca.
It was almost noon when lunch was finally served. Both the kids and volunteers were of course already looking forward to eating by this time but not before one the kids volunteering to pray for our crispy and crunchy meal. Ate Darlene also prepared some delicious cupcakes for dessert which everyone enjoyed. She also handed out school supplies and snack packs to the kids as her parting gift.
The modest celebration surely exceeded our expectations. Thank U to our amazing set of volunteers for making all of this happen.
