Written by: Ate C, U! Happy Core Member
The month of December has been marked by a string of Christmas events, but on December 18, we took a moment to rejoice over the birthday of a very special baby boy named Pio. Mom Eve and Dad Pat waited for Pio for seven years and to express their gratitude for the miracle that he is, they decided to celebrate his first birthday with 25 girls from Gentle Hands. Gentle Hands is an institution that cares for orphaned and abandoned children.
In the company of Pio’s family, we are reminded that children are blessings, and they deserve to be loved and cared for. Unfortunately, many children experience otherwise – that is why U! Happy exists, for marginalized children to receive love, hope, and encouragement from our sponsors through the events we create.
Mom Eve and Dad Pat arrived to decorate the venue for a doughnut-themed party. They were accompanied by beaming grandparents who traveled all the way from Nueva Ecija just to be with us that afternoon. The place was beautifully set up with Pio’s photos, colorful doughnuts, gifts, and big doughnut-shaped cake. When everything was ready, we then called the children to join us. The family took a moment to introduce themselves before they were seated with the children for the get-to-know part of the program.
Children love to play, so we prepared a couple of games for them – Bring Me Art and Arrange Yourselves. All teams were very energetic as prizes awaited the winners.
The games were followed by a very entertaining puppet show by Kuya Better. He gave a background on the art of ventriloquism to the children before he introduced his puppet friend to the enjoyment of everyone.
After the puppet show, it was Ate Blanca’s turn to teach everyone how to make colorful bracelets from just strings and straws with our accessory-making workshop.
Of course, no celebration would be complete without food! Everyone shared a hearty meal, with doughnuts for dessert. We also sang the birthday song for our very handsome celebrant and gave Mommy Eve the opportunity to express her wishes for Baby Pio before blowing the candle together as a family.
While it is customary for the birthday celebrant to be receiving the gifts, this time, it was Pio’s family who prepared presents of blankets and loot bags for the girls of Gentle Hands. We then gathered for the customary group picture before the children bade their farewell to our sponsors with grateful hugs.
Thank you, Atty. Eve and family, for the pleasant experience of serving with U!
