Written by Vice President for External, Kuya Glenn Costales
The holiday served as a good break after the festivities of Christmas day. For the Tio family though, it provided an opportunity to extend their celebration with 25 kids from the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) in Quezon City.
Arriving in their jersey-inspired family shirt, the Tio family was welcomed by the kids and their parents/ guardians. There were also volunteers who took time out of their holiday to join our event.
After dividing the volunteers and kids into five (5) groups, we had them briefly introduce themselves to one another. We then proceeded to play a pair of fun and nifty games to get everyone going. First one was the Shape me Up game. In this game, we gave a straw rope to each team for the members to hold on to. The object of the game was to quickly form the shape being asked for using the straw. In the spirit of the holidays, the teams formed shapes such as a star, a ham and even Santa Clause himself. This sure inspired the teams to creatively make use of the straws to form the shape being asked for.
Next game was the Pass the Balloon. As the name implies, the members simply had to pass a balloon while seated down and as music played in the background. When the music stopped, the person with the balloon had to immediately stand up and form the gesture required. These gestures consisted of a heart, a cross, a Bible and a smile – all of which we can still associate with the reason for the Christmas celebration. This was another delightful game which everyone enjoyed.
The volunteers and kids were then treated to an engaging magic show by one of our resident magicians, Kuya Beng. His act of course displayed the entertaining shrinking playing cards, floating tables and very charming disappearing light act.
After the magic show, lunch was served to the kids and the volunteers. Soon after they finished their meal, the Tio family then distributed school supplies to the kids as their Christmas gift.
All of the kids who participated in our event obviously spent the Christmas in their hospital beds so it may seem like they got the short end of the stick. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the Tio family and the volunteers present for making a huge difference that day and allowing these families to experience some level of cheerfulness despite their situation. At the end of the day, these little deeds are acts of selflessness and love which stem from the main reason of every Christmas – Jesus Christ himself, his birth and his eventual and selfless sacrifice for all. We are truly honored to be part of this event.
