Written by Board Member, Ate Ren dela Cruz
Christmas has always been a wonderful time for friends to come together, catch up, and just bask in the joy the season brings. A lot of friends come together and do house parties, or reunite at posh restaurants, and there are some, like kuya Bryan’s barkada, who choose to bond and spend time together along with the underprivileged kids in our country. This has been a yearly tradition for them to connect with kids and share their blessings, and this year we were privileged to be tapped by the group to organize it with them and the kids at Children’s Joy Foundation.
With a lot of activities in store, the event started with kuya Harvard calling all the ates and kuyas in front to make themselves known to the children. After a round of introductions, the volunteers were each then assigned a group of kids. Getting-to-know followed, and pretty soon the kids and volunteers were bonding. To get everyone fired up, kuya Kobe the magician did an amazing magic performance! Always jampacked with tricks and surprises, everyone gasped and smiled at what he had prepared for us that day. He even got one of the kids to join him and participate in a magic trick!
Next up was gametime, which was in the form of one our classics — Pera o Bayong. Similar to the TV show segment, kuya Harvard asked questions with multiple choice answers, and everyone would line up at the letter they felt represented the correct option. Our winning kid, the last one standing, was then given the option to choose between 1 thousand pesos or the bayong — which had a secret content. He ended up choosing the bayong, and in it were 5 story books!
To give more meaning to the season, we then headed onto the next activity which was the arts decorating contest. Each group were given art materials as well as cartolina, and we tasked them to illustrate on it what Christmas meant for all of them. It was great fun as the ates and kuyas helped the kids come up with the drawings, which ended up colorfully and creatively made. Making the day more special was the fact that the kids had surprise performances for us, which touched the heart of everyone present in the room.
Mealtime then commenced, followed by the giving out of school supplies to the kids by our volunteers. We ended the day on a high note with all smiles for the camera, to capture such a heartwarming event filled with joy and love. We hope other barkadas get inspired too by kuya Bryan’s, and choose to bless others while spending time with their friends.
