The Spirit of Giving: A FILMIS Christmas fundraising event in The Netherlands
By Jacob O. Apostol
Den Haag-The Netherlands
December 10, 2017
Den Haag-December 2: Christmas is a special day for us, isnt it? If you happen to walk on the streets of Den Haag, especially along the commercial areas, you can surely feel around the corner the excitement and enthusiasm of people in savoring the season. Yes, Christmas spirit is already blooming in the air in Den Haag.
Days before Christmas Day, Dec. 25, we start making a list of people whom we think deserve our special attention. This is a habit that most of us do every year. We send Christmas cards to our family members, friends, and officemates or fellow workers or buy them gifts or, even invite them to dinner at home or eat out in an expensive restaurant just to show how important they really are for us this Christmas.
Of course, people of different backgrounds have many ways of celebrating Christmas. For some, they do it with extravagance; for others, in a simple way with foods and gifts. But, for those who are less in life, just any foods on a table to survive a day.
Just think! Have we ever thought also of giving something to strangers especially the poor children out there who dont have anything to celebrate Christmas? They also deserve our attention on this special day! Not just because they want special presents such as toys, nice clothes or shoes, but simply because they also deserve the spirit of Christmas the way we do. You agree, dont you?
To show that Christmas is for everyone, including those poor angels who live in far-flung areas in Mindanao, FILMIS decided to hold a Christmas fundraising event with a theme, The Spirit of Giving last December 2, 2017.
We organized the event to raise funds to support the Hope Charity Philippines, a small non-profit organization in the Philippines founded by Sayril Cahilig Seniel. This an organization committed to providing school supplies for some poor children in Mindanao. It is also engaged in feeding program in which it donates money to buy foods for the children who lack nutrition in their bodies.
The event was a disco party. There was also a short program with raffle draws. We did this way to attract more people to come for support. We also wanted to actually make our guests and supporters enjoy the night with music and live performances from our very own FILMIS dance group. Added to this were festive foods we prepared on a table, consisting of Malaysian chicken curry, chicken adobo, menudo, sweet and sour fish, bami, vegetable in butter and garlic, Filipino-style spaghetti, and the traditional Filipino desserts such puto, casaba cake and kutsinta.
And, of course, we wanted to make sure that they would see and hear our beneficiary Hope Charity explaining the situation of the poor children in Mindanao who were the actual recipients of our donation.
During the presentation, Ms Sayril showed photos of children receiving school supplies of different sorts and charity activities they have had. It was a touching moment to see some people from the audience were attentive to Ms Sayril despite of some loud voice in the background. You saw in her eyes the heart of a true servant. Her message was strong. They need help! She said with passion.
In the end, we were happy to see that the fundraising event ended up successful! We didnt only get the support of kind-hearted people, but also we made them enjoy the night with fun. The party was over, but spirit of giving has lingered in the hearts of those who shared their parts to make it a humble milestone for us.
Again, the success of this event would not be made possible without the support of all donors and sponsors. We are all so very grateful to them!