THE country continues to grapple with the impact of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic for months now where gatherings across sectors were still suspended to curb the massive contagion. But this did not stop a batch of graduates to create a silver lining in the midst of crisis.
Instead of dwelling on the missed opportunity of marching through the stage, the Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus (PSHS-SMC) graduating batch with 91 members, Sanghaya, initiated an online thanksgiving and fundraiser event named "Handog Ng Sanghaya" in various social media platforms to commemorate their six-year journey in Pisay.
Sanghaya Batch Governor Via Adalin shared in an interview that the idea popped after a couple of meetings with the committee. A supposedly simple event turned into this three-segment five-day thanksgiving and fundraising activity which included the Sanghaya Appreciation, a series of gratitude-giving to the people who played a role in Sanghaya's journey; Sanghayahay, an online batch gathering and recollection; and Sanghayuda, a charity event to help the frontliners.
"The main objective of Sanghayuda, our fundraiser aka one of the three segments of Handog ng Sanghaya, is to raise funds to help provide our frontliners with the things that they need," said Adalin.
The event started on May 22 and culminated on May 26 through a livestream posted in the PSHS SMC 2020 Facebook page that presented Sanghaya's graduates.
Among their beneficiaries are the frontliners of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for the first batch. They planned on procuring surgical face masks for the hospital staff. Adalin added that they are in the process of communicating with the Central 911 for the second batch of donation.
Their original target amount was P50,000 but as of May 25, they increased their target to P100,000 after exceeding their initial goal. As of last week, they were able to gather at least P131,000 cash donation.
"Although lampas na po kami sa aming target amount, we are still accepting donations parin po in case may willing pa to help," she said.
All of the funds gathered are donors, some from anonymous individuals, but most of them were contacts of their batch.
"We are very thankful to the donors that they trusted Sanghaya with their money. We had 25-centavo donations to as much as 10k donations. Truly, any amount of donation is very much appreciated. We wish to assure the donors that their generosity will not go to waste," she added.
Adalin also hopes to inspire other youth to stand up and contribute to the fight against Covid-19.
"As part of the youth, we should be motivated more than anyone to help the community in which we intend to serve in the future. Marami rin po ang nawalan na ng pag-asa at gana para sa kinabukasan. Hopefully our project showed them that we can still be positive and productive during this time. Kahit walang graduation ceremony, may pag-asa pa rin naman," Adalin said.
How to donate:
Paypal:
https://www.paypal.me/pzbgarde
pjzeusg@gmail.com
Paymaya:
09175071779
Gcash:
09175071779
BDO:
Account Name: PJ Zeus B. Garde
Account Number: 010250025868