ORION, Bataan—Smiles and joy this Christmas filled the hearts of 200 school children in this town on Monday through the Dance-A-Thon-Backpack Project of a group of Filipino in San Dego, California.
Myra Villafana, a Centro Escolar University (CEU) Malolos graduate and her children who work in San Diego together with their Filipino friends from Prime Ladies of San Diego (PLSD) and Casa De Venezuela, San Diego had made the 196 kinder to grade 6 pupils of Sta. Elena elementary school in Orion town felt the warmth and blessings of the Christmas spirit.
Fifty backpack bags were given to those children who do not have backpack bags, 25 umbrellas to boys and girls, school supplies—crayons, water colors, pencil, ballpen, eraser, notebook and snacks and drinks.
Villafana’s CEU classmates Joey Borja, Ferdie Zoriaga, Riza Carlos and Carmela Reyes-Estrope served as volunteers in the distribution and in the candy give-away.
It was the eleventh year Villafana and her group had been giving smiles and feeling of love to communities in the region. “It is just one way of giving back and sharing our blessings to our fellow Filipinos especially during Christmas,” she told NEWSCORE. Villafana and her group started the Backpack charity project in 2013.
Evelyn Cruz Quicho, school head of Sta. Elena elementary school expressed her warm appreciation to Villafana’s groups for choosing their school children as one of the recipients of this year’s Backpack Project.
Marie Griggs, Line Dance Instructor of PLSD who is from Orion sought the help of her sister Cecilia Bautista in choosing the school beneficiary.
“We see a lot of communities particularly children who still lack school stuffs like backpacks, umbrellas, slippers, etc. that’s why I started this project since 2013 and through the cooperation and support of Filipino friends in San Diego, it continue today and will go on for years and years,” Villafana added.
Villafana hails from Pampanga.
On Tuesday, 300 children in Aeta community in Katutubo village elementary school in Barangay Planas, Porac and school children in Dawe elementary school in Dawe, Minalin, both in Pampanga also received the same smiles in their hearts and faces and gifts of joy in their hearts.
