Written by Secretary, Glenn Costales
Over the years, U! Happy has been privileged to partner with different groups that regularly provide support to children’s events. These partnerships mostly include companies and local organizations pursuing their corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals and advocacies. Other times though, individuals basically just come together and decide to simply help out.
This was the case last Saturday as a group of friends reached out to the kids of Bahay Maria in Bel Air Village, Makati. Pals since grade school, the Small and Big Barkada (or SnB) partnered with U! for the 3rd straight year to carry out their December outreach activity called SnB Gives Back.
As always, the joyful spirits of the children welcomed U! and SnB for the afternoon affair. Their families and kids were likewise present to take part in the festivities.
To kick things off, the volunteers and kids were grouped together and spent a few minutes getting acquainted over some delightful donuts. They also got to know about each one’s favorite Christmas song in the process.
With everyone comfortable, the event proceeded with one of U!s more popular games, the Hula-Hoop Relay. In this game, the groups lined up with their hands joined together and moved a hula hoop from one end to the other. Members had to navigate their bodies around and through the circular toy as fast as they could. It was an exhilarating game that had everyone screaming and cheering. One group soon emerged as the winner after some closely-contested rounds.
Next up, the groups settled down for a cake-designing activity. Each kid got to design her own small cake using colorful frostings and sprinkles with the help of their atesand kuyas. It was an exciting activity for the kids as they got to design their own tasty treats which they were quite eager to bite into as well.
After setting aside their finished pastries, the kids continued on with another activity in line with the day’s art-theme – Paper Clay Art. This type of clay art has been gaining popularity in the Philippines for some time now. It’s a simple and relatively affordable activity that really nurtures a kid’s ability to focus in creating something. With instructions from a clay-art expert and with the guidance of our volunteers of course, the kids were all business – and not to mention silent – as they carefully positioned the paper clays within and along the lines of the cartoon-layouts. It was the first for U! to hold this activity and apparently a first as well for most of the volunteers. Their own kids got busy too in what was definitely the most serene’ part of the day.
As the afternoon drew to a close, everyone gathered for a final group picture to cap off the day. The kids then received their Christmas gifts from SnB as they embraced them goodbye and till next time.
U! Happy Events would like to thank SnB once more for their time and generosity to the kids of Bahay Maria. U! is likewise grateful to Besuto Crackers, Happy Haus Donuts, Goldilocks, Vitall Vitamins and Rebisco for their contribution.
Testimony from Jac Lutanco-Chua (of SnB):
“The “SnB Gives Back” Christmas outreach activity is something our barkada looks forward to every year. People always tell us that our beneficiaries are fortunate because they are recipients of our generosity, but really, we feel we are just as blessed, because not everyone is given the opportunity to interact with the less fortunate on such a personal and intimate level. We would like to thank the children and staff of Bahay Maria for welcoming us into their home for one afternoon, and to U! Happy for reminding us, once again, what the meaning of Christmas is all about.”
