IN A bid to help the underprivileged children of Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental, the Limketkai Luxe Hotel launched its Tree of Hope last Sunday, December 2.
The Tree of Hope is an annual fund-raising project of the Limketkai Luxe Hotel wherein the companies, hotel visitors and clients are encouraged to buy Christmas balls for P300.
The name of the buyer will be put on the ball and will be hung on the Christmas tree. The name is the proof that the person who bought the ball has joined the project.
The proceeds from the buying the balls will be given to Balay Canossa, an establishment that takes care of street kids, the underprivileged children, of Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental.
The Tree of Hope project started in 2017, through the initiative of the Limketkai Luxe Hotel General Manager Jerome de la Fuente.
“When I arrived here, I saw a lot of street children and what happened there was, I told myself 'I'm gonna take these kids off the streets.' And I decided I like to do a project,” De la Fuente said.
He shared that he also brought the kids to the hotel for them to “experience being kids” as he organized a Christmas party where they exchanged gifts and did shows and other activities.
According to De la Fuente, during the first year of the Tree of Hope project, they were able to raise P20,000 per tree.
This year, there were nine trees displayed in the lobby of Limketkai Luxe Hotel. The trees were from: the people of City Hall, City Mayor Oscar Moreno, Governor Yevgeny Emano, from Manolo Fortich, Irene Floro and Family, John & Mags Cue and Family, Mindanao Development Authority, Rosita Lim, and Esmerna Uyguanco Gabutina and Ivan Joseph Uyguangco Gabutina.
“This is basically a tradition that we'd like to continue. We want to showcase the prosperity of the city in the hope that things will change. No matter what happens in the country, Cagayan de Oro City will be very good,” De la Fuente said.
The Limketkai Luxe Hotel also has it fresh pine tree flew in from the United States for their Christmas tree and a Gingerbread House set which comprised of 200 items.
The Christmas trees and the gingerbread house could be seen in the hotel lobby.