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HANDS-ON MANILA (HOM) gathers volunteers to help make the lives of
orphans at Asilo de San Vicente de Paul (ASVP) more colorful. On
October 27, busy professionals will take a break from their daily
schedules to join Hands-On Manila for a morning of mural painting
and interaction with the kids of Asilo Orphanage on UN Avenue,
Manila. The orphanage is one of the oldest in the country, and the
new mural is a gift for the celebration of its 120th anniversary,
happening this month. It houses 70 children aged 12 years and
below—all of which were present to gleefully welcome the
volunteers when they arrived.
In HOM’s biggest celebration of the spirit of
volunteerism, hundreds of volunteers from top companies will
simultaneously conduct volunteer service projects all over Metro
Manila in what is known as a service marathon or, in HOM terms,
Servathon. Themed, “I Am the Change,” this project hopes to
empower corporate volunteers to be the change they want to see in
the world by giving them this chance to see how much they can
accomplish even in just one day. “The change we are referring to
in this theme is actually two-pronged. With volunteerism, you not
only make a change in the lives of the beneficiaries, but you also
make a change in yourself,” says Junie del Mundo, chairman of
Servathon 2007.
Already onboard for this event are 15
companies—Accenture Philippines, American Express, Bank of the
Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation, Coca-Cola Foundation
Philippines Inc., EON The Stakeholder Relations Firm, Hong Kong
Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC), Philippine Daily Inquirer, Thomson
Financial Philippines, Rockwell Land Corp., Chevron, Japan/British
Tobacco, Ateneo Law School Batch ’85, Central Azucarera de Don
Pedro, Cibo, Globe Telecom and Shell Philippines Exploration.
The first Servathon was held in 2006, which
brought together 10 corporations to do 11 service projects. Last
year’s 350 volunteers put in 1,750 volunteer man-hours, which was
used to do a mix of building and construction, gardening,
environmental clean-up, livelihood and skills seminars, and many
other projects. In the, the concerted efforts of these volunteers
helped a total of 18,000 beneficiaries.
The decision to hold another Servathon was
largely due to the huge success of last year’s project, as well as
the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participating
companies: “We all had a wonderful time. The volunteers really
appreciated the opportunity to be a part of the Servathon—with or
without the photo. We are looking forward to the next Servathon,”
said Cecile Alcantara, Coca Cola’s executive director. Evelyn
Salagubang, HR manager for American Express also says, “There’s
a feeling of satisfaction when you know you are helping others.”
Out of the 15 participating corporations, 8 are
repeat volunteers from last year. “It is very inspiring to see so
many corporations coming back to share in the spirit of volunteerism
with HOM this second time around. I give a warm welcome to all the
new comers, and hope that this will be the start of a long and
fruitful relationship between the corporations, HOM and the
beneficiaries.” says del Mundo.
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