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| "The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation." |
Since its establishment more than 2 years ago, Cebu Scoopy Club (CSC) has already planned, or at least envisioned that the club would not just create riding and fun-filled activities but also do efforts of giving back to the less fortunate or to the community. There were suggestions of feeding program, tree planting, community service and so on. But due to busy schedules and other activities and/or priorities, the plans haven't been materialized. Until now.
First off the list is the feeding program. CSC President Micmic Hernando laid the plan and its details regarding the feeding program. The location was just within Metro Cebu, Kusina ni Santa Marta. The plan was finally set on November 23, 2014 but unfortunately, it was also the same day of boxing's only 8-division world champion and the Philippines' National Fist, its greatest prizefighter, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's fight against Chris Algieri. But as one bank commercial says, "We find ways" and so, the feeding program plan went ahead.
We met up at our usual meet-up place, Honda Philippines, Inc. Cebu Depot in Lahug Cebu City. One of our members brought his cage to bring the sacks of rice that we planned to donate to the institution as well. We were able to contribute some cash to buy the sacks of rice.
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| Our usual meetup place is at Honda Philippines, Inc. Cebu Depot. |
We reached the institution (Kusina ni Santa Marta) around 9AM. Once there, we immediately "attacked" the kitchen to help in preparing the foods.
We were not alone in this activity since we have companies like our back riders who were ready to help to prepare and distribute the foods as well.
After a couple of minutes, everyone went ahead and did their part of helping. We were too many and so the kitchen got crowded a little bit which was by the way not a bad thing because everyone was helping. Generally, in anything we do, we always have fun when we have company and this case is no exception. We were helping yet we were having fun at the same time as well as you can see in these photos:
It only took a couple of minutes to finish our job in the kitchen. We didn't do the cooking part because there were also other volunteers who did the cooking and guess what, they were foreigners, Indonesians specifically.
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| Don't be fooled. Apparently, they look like Pinoys but they are Indonesians. |
After finishing what we did in the kitchen, we proceeded to go outside to rest a little bit and get some air and also to prepare the tables outside and clean the surroundings as well.
After that, the guys were able to relax a little bit before the distribution of foods began. Just look at these guys. They look like they were some part of a band or something. Hehehe.
At around 11:30AM, children and adults were slowly filling the place. Waiting to be able to eat a stomach full which they don't experience most of the time. It was truly heartbreaking to see them in their conditions but there is only much you can do about it. The kids were more jolly however which was still nice to see.
Then the time came to prepare the foods for distribution. Each plate contained rice, a piece of lumpia and sotanghon. To us, it appeared like a regular, everyday food but to them, it was already a feast.
Then the foods were ready to be distributed. Everyone took time to help in distributing the food but to prevent chaos, we didn't have multiple distribution points. It was nice to see how our little efforts bring forth smiles and comfort to the less fortunate. Although the distribution was quite hectic, it was fulfilling at the same time.
The lines quickly filled up and more people still came even though we thought there were already a lot of them in the institution. I initially thought, will we be able to feed them all?
Thankfully, we had enough to give. Some of them even tried to finish their plates immediately to fall in line again. Yup, it was that much and we were thankful for that. It would have been more heartbreaking if the foods were not enough.
Truly, your heart will melt seeing these people treat the event like a feast. Sometimes we complain when we thought how "little" we have in life but after seeing these people, we will realize how truly blessed we are. You can see in their faces how thankful and happy they were of eating rice, a lumpia and sotanghon. Foods that wouldn't get you excited about, right?
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| This kid couldn't find a nice spot since the tables were a little high for him so there he stayed, at least under shade. :) |
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| This was supposed to be an iced-candy but for some reason, we distributed them as juices. Hehehe. |
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| Some couldn't finish what they have and instead of throwing the left overs, they placed in plastic for dinner (or snacks). |
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| You can really see how they missed having a good meal by the way they put the foods in their mouth. |
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| These grandpas were actually just passers by but they heard about the free food so they opted to join the "feast" as well. I think I heard that they were nomads but I am not sure about that. |
After the "feast", we decided to formalize our offering (sacks of rice) to Kusina ni Santa Marta.
It was tiring but the day ain't over yet. We were hungry as well because we haven't found the time to eat because it was obviously quite busy. Time check was 12:30NN and the Pacman's fight hasn't started yet as well, so we decided to proceed to a fast food restaurant and decided to watch the fight there while eating. And yes, we were able to watch the Pacman's fight as well from the first to the last round. All ends well. :)
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| Eating while watching Pacman's fight. |
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| And down goes Algieri for the 3rd time from a brilliant Pacquiao's left hook. :) |
It was a truly fulfilling day for all of us. It was heartbreaking to see the less fortunate while they were eating but at the same time you will feel thankful because of what we just did and the fact that we were once again reminded of how fortunate we are. This is just the start of more "giving back" activities to come by Cebu Scoopy Club. Then it was also capped off with a great win by our Pambansang Kamao, as always, a great morale booster and everything went really well that day. It was a celebration. It was giving back and be given back at the same time.
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