Holiday Cheer for Those Affected by Super Typhoon Odette

We wanted to bring some holiday cheer to those affected by Super Typhoon Odette. So when we brought relief goods to Purok Alimango in Camarus Island, Binalbagan on Christmas day, we had something special loaded—a cotton candy machine! First we loaded it on a truck, then a boat, and finally, a tricycle till it reached our final destination.

We gave out our usual relief packs of water, groceries, and rice to 138 families. Then we gave each family a whole lechon manok. And finally, for the kids, there was cotton candy for the kids and there were teddy bears too!

For New Year’s day, we wanted to top what we did for Christmas day. Our initial plan was to bring along psychologists to speak to the children to help them deal with the trauma of the storm. However, there were no volunteer psychologists available for that day. So we thought of another way to help the kids.

We had a show! There were clowns, a magician and a mascot. This was on top of the teddy bears, cotton candy, lechon manok, loot bags, blankets, mats and relief goods. We set out to bust the stress of the children but managed to bring smiles to faces of everyone at the Talabahan Growers Association of Ilog.

We’d like to acknowledge all those who made these special celebrations possible. Tay Tung High School students sponsored the loot bags and lechon manok. They also covered the talent fees of one of the clowns. Big J the Magician waived his talent fees. SM City Bacolod provided the teddy bears. Super Lucky Beagler, Inc. send Lucky the Mascot to be part of the show. Philippine Business for Social Progress gave each family a bag of groceries, rice, a blanket and a mat. And the friend of Pinky A “sharelebrated” for her by sponsoring the cotton candy treat.

Thank you as well to the NVC Team of seven who volunteered to be action persons for the New Year’s Day affair. In addition to our Field Staff, we had volunteers from Admin and the Mingo Production Plant as well.

The road to recovery will be long and hard but we’re glad we gave these families some reasons to smile despite all the hardships they’ve been experiencing.