The promise of young smiles
“Children
are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.” –
John F. Kennedy
It’s known to many that this quote inspired a
lot of people and organizations around the world. It’s like a message that highlights
the great importance of children as they are the most precious treasures a
community can have. They are the promise and guarantee of the future; so they
should be taken care of all the time.
Members of IROG Foundation, along with LGO
employees, used this quote as our inspiration in giving excellent service to
adorable little children during our recent activity called “Soup
Kitchen Activity”
at Sta. Rita Elementary School on September 1, 2016.
September 1 seems to be an ordinary day for all
Grade 1 students of the school; but for the members of LGO and IROG, it was
truly a special day because everyone wants to share their purpose of giving to
a lot of charming, little students that day.
The staff of IROG Foundation wholeheartedly
prepared the food that we were going to deliver to all Grade 1 students of the
said school. But before I elucidate the topic regarding the food, I would like
to share how we were all excited before we even departed from our office.
While we were preparing to leave, we were
already imagining the sweet responses we will receive from the children and it was
enough reason for us to become more motivated. Even though it was hot outside
and we needed to travel for a few minutes before we could even get there, all
of us had enough strength to work hard for them because we were eager to
perform this beneficial activity.
At exactly 1PM, we left the LGO compound to
begin our voyage to the school. All of us rode a jeepney to get there and
during our trip, I could hear some of my colleagues’ excited conversations and
their words were all filled with enthusiasm.
While we were on our way to the school, I couldn’t
help myself but imagine the endless gratitude we will receive from those
children. The thought of it made me more effervescent about our activity. A few
minutes had passed since we left our office; and
we finally arrived at our destination.
Sta. Rita Elementary
School has a tranquil surrounding and the moment we entered the place, I could
feel the anticipation rushing through my veins. Watching the parents patiently
waiting for their children inside the campus made me miss the old days.
As we looked around, you would notice the
simplicity of the school and appreciate its charm. It was only a moment but it felt
like I had been visiting the school for a number of times already because I
felt comfortable being inside the school grounds. But it was then that my
colleague led me to where the staff of IROG Foundation was. Everything was set
and they were only waiting for us to arrive.
We rushed to the place and readied ourselves
for our activity. And since it was a soup kitchen party, I already expected to
see some delicious soup and to my surprise, there were also a lot of tasty bread. But before we even began, we didn’t
forget to offer a prayer to God and express our gratitude towards all the
blessings we received and asked His guidance to make this activity successful.
After the prayer, everyone was now focused on
serving the children. Our first destination was the farthest room of the left
building. You can’t help but giggle once you saw the surprised expression from
the students because they were all very cute with their shocked faces.
Each class gave us a warm welcome and you would
have seen in their eyes that they were really happy and some of them couldn’t wait
to taste the foods that IROG especially prepared for them. Some of the children
were doing little cheers for us and kept on pointing at their location, telling
us to go faster to them.
The children were all charming and lovely, you
will never have gotten tired looking at them being so joyful and thankful about
their soup and bread. After we distributed their food, some of them already ate
their bread, and it was cute how they said “It’s so tasty!” after just one
bite. But their teachers never forgot to remind them that they needed to thank
God first and offer a prayer before eating.
Sta. Rita Elementary School has 6 classrooms
for Grade 1 students, and even though some rooms were quite far from each
other, LGO and IROG members didn’t mind it. I could see some of my colleagues sweating
hard from carrying the foods; but they
still managed to smile and continued to pass happiness to the children.
We were really touched seeing their bright
expressions and their mellifluous way of saying “Thank you po” each time we gave them their food. With
this activity, LGO and IROG Foundation aim to instill the value of service to
those young souls.
Before we left each classroom, we were encouraging
them to always study hard and their responses were bright young smiles with a
strong dedication and an honest “Opo” (Yes, we will). I personally translate
those smiles as promises that they will do well in their studies and will build
their future with optimistic minds. Because of those smiles, I’m confident that
our activity truly provides good service to them.
Being a part of this kind of activity makes me
so thankful to our company; because aside from giving service to others, our visits
at school and charities also teach us life lessons. “Soup Kitchen Activity”
taught me how vulnerable children could be, and I realized that each of them
really needs proper guidance. I’m suddenly glad schools exist. I’m hoping that
this event showed them how much adults really care for their well-being.
I also had the chance to see cute students
while studying, a sight I rarely see every day; and seeing those students
focused during their recitation or simply copying notes from the blackboard was
indeed a delightful sight to see. And because we had more foods left, we also
delivered them to some Grade 3 students and called some of the parents waiting
outside to have some soup and bread.
I understand that each of us has our own answer
to what is the purpose of giving; and I’m glad that I became a member of
a company that invariably provides the meaning of giving through activities
like this. However, LGO would not be a company like this without Sir Joel
Castillo, the founder of LGO and now one
of God’s angels, who’s known as a kind of person who doesn’t think twice about
giving help to other people, especially to those who are in need.
The first time I became an employee of LGO and
saw how Sir Joel, together with all the members of the company, did things, I
felt overjoyed because it is not only about the growth of the company that was
in the mind of our boss but also the welfare of other people and how to share his
blessings with them.
Everything about LGO and IROG is an eye-opener for
me at first, such as how everyone treats each other as a family and how
everyone participated in sharing their blessings and offering their help to
other people. And it seems that our boss’ own definition of giving has been
passed on to everyone, especially to me. LGO and IROG’s deeds taught me that
genuine happiness doesn’t come from what we get but from what we give.
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