On May 25, 2019, 202 volunteers of all ages, shapes, and sizes trooped to Bacolod’s Ayala Malls Capitol Central to pack 3,000 LoveBags bound for five destinations to serve children from tribes of the indigenous peoples. Here are just a few of the groups and individuals who generously gave time and energy to share the love.
Our snappiest salute goes to the Eagle Scouts Organization of Negros Occidental and ESOP- Bacolod City Council Chapter. Why do we know that they learned their scout training well? We had to sew to a close the openings of 250 sacks which held 10 LoveBags each. The Eagle Scouts had to sew a lot of them, and wow! Never had we seen better stitching than this group of 29 did. Thank you, and hope to see you again!
The event also brought in two couples from distant shores among volunteers.
Andy and Lillian Rissi are from Switzerland, but they are NVC veterans because they gave and packed LoveBags with us a year ago, too. They’re so much a part of us that they’ve turned over a Peter Project boat and helped us feed kids Mingo Meals. They’re so attuned to NVC that they’ve even linked the foundation to other Swiss nationals.
Margarita and Sidney Desair are first-time NVC volunteers, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves, and we hope to see them again soon. Margarita is Polish and husband Sidney is from Belgium.
We also spotted a number of families, including:
Mikel Lovina’s family was represented by Mikel’s brother-in-law, two nephews, sister, and mom. Mikel passed away 22 years ago and in recent years. his family has organized the Mikel Lovina Jamborun. For two years now, this event has sponsored LoveBags and Mingo Meals. Since they committed to raise 500 LoveBags (and met the target), their LoveBags proudly carry the Jamborun logo.
Another three-generation team was the Jacinto family. Grandmother Nelia skillfully sorted pencils from her wheelchair, assisted by daughter, the award-winning lawyer Reggie Barrientos, and two grandchildren, Sam Golez and Ian Dabao.
Our own emcee Megan Benares brought her daughter Morgan, a veteran of three packing activities, and her husband Tono.
We also had students from STI-WNU College of Business Mgmt. and Accountancy, STI-WNU CICT, Bacolod TayTung HighSchool, USLS College of Engineering and Technology Council and Club, Information Technology Society USLS, Earthguards and Decision Makers Inc of La Salle.
All around a giant LoveBag image they converged, an image as big as their hearts: SSA-B Class ‘69, Legion of Mary, The Feast Bacolod Singles Ministry and Federation of Urban Poor.
And now we take a bow from behind the scenes of the fourth LoveBag volunteer packing event at Ayala Malls Capitol Central: NVC Foundation’s team of men and women who day by day keep its wheels churning: its management committee, staff from every department, and the ever-reliable merchandising team. The 3,000 bags are out of our hands now, on their way to destinations far and wide. They may be hard to reach but because there are children in need, we find them and bring our love to them. NVC’s love delivers!