The new wave of volunteerism

MANILA, Philippines – It’s a clear day in a community center in Barangay Loyola Heights, Quezon City. A father of two, Edsel Ramirez of Philippine Toy Library sits cross-legged on the cool concrete floor, surrounded by children’s books and plastic toys as he plays with barefoot kids not his own.

Meanwhile, on a searing asphalt pavement across town, Tina dela Cruz of The Firefly Brigade prepares her road bike for a long day of riding. Behind her, more than 10,000 other cyclists, young and old, some dressed in outlandish costumes, prepare to start a nearly 40-km bike ride.

In a country like the Philippines, no issue is too big, too small, too serious or too trivial. Different as these organizations may be, their end goal is the same: change.

This was also the goal in Jollibee’s recently-concluded competition, “Choice Ko Yum: Choosing the Next Yumbassadors.” From the many groups that sent in their applications, the guiding principle for the panel of judges was to find model organizations that have been helping inspire others to lead the way in youth empowerment and community development.

In the end, Jollibee chose 3 inspiring success stories: Alay ni Ignacio (ANI), a volunteer-based organization that provides leadership and academic formation to public high school students; Junior Jaycees Noveleta Kalero, a leadership organization with numerous community service programs in Cavite; and the Philippine Stagers Foundation, a theater group that uses theater and art as a means to help the underprivileged youth, sick and elderly.

Just like The Firefly Brigade and Philippine Toy Library, these organizations hope to bring about change in the country and its people through their small efforts and, perhaps, inspire others to do the same.

Jollibee Yumbassadors: Helping others through education, caring for the environment and art

For Leana Vibal of ANI, teaching public school students during the summer season isn’t just about supplementing what they learned during the regular academic year. She says it’s about bridging the gap.

ANI’s deputy for administration says they want their public high school kids to be academically equal to their counterparts in the private high schools. It used to be, after all, that the quality of learning was that uniform. The dream, she adds, is for them to surpass the limits that have been imposed on them; so that when they make life choices, they’re informed.

Aside from academic classes during the summer vacation, Alay ni Ignacio volunteers also teach leadership sessions during the school year. According to Leana, ANI helps the students believe in themselves. Some of them may think that they don’t have an edge against those in private high schools. But “we make them believe that even if they’re not financially capable, they still have a lot of potential.”

For Raymond Salazar of Junior Jaycees of Noveleta Kalero, the spirit of volunteerism is about helping their immediate community in Noveleta, Cavite. It began when the local government was starting to teach the community on waste segregation, and the group thought of becoming a part of it by volunteering as partners  in promoting this practice.

Seeing that they could also raise funds for their local public schools by collecting recyclable junk, they decided to take their mission a step higher: asking residents for their recyclable waste. Soon, they were able to purchase school supplies to donate to more than 100 public school students in Noveleta, along with some furniture to the school.

What they do is important because they’re able to touch lives, says Raymond. “When we give a notebook and a pencil to these children, their sincere gratitude to the volunteers is just priceless.”

For the Philippine Stagers Foundation, the 3rd Jollibee Yumbassador winner, it’s about using art and theater as a means to a noble end. According to head facilitator JP Lopez, the group presents theater with a purpose. The Foundation is now on their 12th season. Part of their proceeds goes to their various outreach projects that aim to help the poor, sick and elderly in their partner schools and institutions.

The Foundation also conducts performance and personality development workshops to develop confidence and self-esteem among the participants. They are taught history, language and the arts, and they are also encouraged to grow and find themselves.

Firefly Brigade: Helping the environment through alternative transportation

For Tina dela Cruz, president of The Firefly Brigade, volunteerism is saving the environment by promoting an alternative mode of transportation. The grouop, established in 2000, upholds the lowly bicycle as the mode of transportation that leads to a cleaner environment and clean air, and also helps nurture sustainable communities.

“Fireflies are the barometer of air pollution; we don’t see fireflies in a polluted area,” says Tina. “Firefly Brigade was organized to address our need to lessen the air pollution and to bring back the fireflies to the city.” They do that by encouraging people to try out two wheels instead of the gas-guzzling four.

Every 3rd Sunday of the month, they hold what they call Critical Mass Rides to promote visibility on the road for cyclists. But it’s their yearly Flight of the Fireflies — an almost 40-km ride that goes through several Metro Manila cities attended by more than 10,000 cyclists of all ages and professions — that people know best.

“There are ways to be economical and healthy, and we need to be more visible on the road to create awareness for road sharing,” says Tina. “We are the non-polluters and we deserve to be rewarded by having an equal share and right of the road.”

To contact Firefly Brigade, visit their website at www.fireflybrigade.org, or their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pages/Firefly-Brigade-Philippines.

Philippine Toy Library: Promoting the joy of playing

For Edsel Ramirez, founder of Philippine Toy Library, the cause is to promote something most of us take for granted: play time.

“For many reasons, we feel that there is poverty of play,” he says. “It’s either because of the economic set-up that they aren’t able to buy toys they can play with, or in some instances when we ask them, they say the house is cramped; they’re always fighting with their parents, they’re being abused or they need to beg for alms or work.”

But why the emphasis on childhood play? “We all grew up playing,” says Ramirez. “And we want this kind of opportunity to be experienced by kids in poor urban areas and provinces.” In the process of playing with their peers, he says, “kids are able to experience the values of sharing, of taking turns, of returning toys to where they got them.”

Perhaps the most important thing is that they learn “to create things through their imagination while developing social skills among their playmates.”

Since June last yaer, Philippine Toy Library has partnered with different communities and set up 27 play areas for the children in those neighborhoods. The need is so great that they have pending requests from communities in areas like Iloilo, Sulu and Davao. “It’s important for us that children get to play,” says Ramirez. Philippine Toy Library hopes to make that a reality for every Filipino child.

To contact Philippine Toy Library, visit http://philippinetoylibrary.wordpress.com of their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PhilippineToyLibrary.

With organizations like The Firefly Brigade, Philippine Toy Library, as well as the winners of Jollibee’s “Choice Ko Yum: Choosing the Next Yumbassadors,” it is hoped that those who see a prevalent need in their communities don’t simply acknowledge this circumstance but also take action. – Rappler.com

To contact Alay ni Ignacio, email ani.pathways@gmail.com or call Marianne Fabian and/or Leana Isabel Vibal at landline 920-0153 or mobile 0917-8881052. / To contact JJC Noveleta and JJI Noveleta ASIN, email kalerojjaycees@gmail.com or call Raymond Salazar at mobile 0917-8615658. / To contact Philippine Stagers Foundation, contact Jude Cartalaba and/or Vince Tanada at landline 781-6727 or mobile 0927-3913447. Email them at iamjudecartalaba@gmail.com and bedan_vince@yahoo.com.