The Greg Secker Foundation Village

I feel really lucky to be able to spend time with these amazing people, most especially the forex guru and philanthropist, Greg Secker, on a weekend filled with a lot of interesting activities.

We flew to Iloilo and stayed at Richmonde Hotel, then we flew to Lemery via a helicopter. We visited the Greg Secker Foundation Village, and met a lot of nice people there.

After three days and two nights in Iloilo, we flew back to Manila. We were able to volunteer at the medical mission of Starkey Hearing Foundation, and I was able to meet Bill Austin, the founder of Starkey Technologies, the top manufacturer of hearing aids in the US and 6th globally. 

Oh, we actually rode the chopper from BGC to QC and back. So while in QC, we also went toy and book shopping at Trinoma, which we donated to the children of the House of Refuge.

We really had a fun and productive weekend. :)

Sponsor A Noche Buena Has Been a Success! Thanks to Everyone who Helped Out.

The fundraising project for typhoon Haiyan victims that we have initiated has been successful. You may refer to these posts for the background of the project:

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2013/11/sponsor-noche-buena-for-typhoon-haiyan.html

http://www.citygirldiaries.com/2013/11/updated-sponsor-noche-buena-for-typhoon.html

We were able to send out 1,550 holiday baskets to the victims. Thanks so much to everyone who helped. We received a lot of help from New York, Dubai, New Zealand, and of course, the Philippines. We even got featured on GMA News TV and WheninManila.com.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/186034/stateofthenation/isang-grupo-nangangalap-ng-pang-noche-buena-para-sa-mga-nasalanta-ng-bagyo

http://www.wheninmanila.com/sponsor-a-noche-buena-rebuilding-leyte-through-baskets-of-hope/

Again, thanks to everyone who helped. Let's continue praying for the victims of typhoon Haiyan for their quick recovery.

xoxo,

city girl

Charity Garage Sale for Typhoon Haiyan Victims

Last Sunday, November 17, my friends and I had a garage sale for the benefit of the victims of super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). We rummaged our own closets to sell our stuff, including the branded ones. A lot of our friends came to bring stuff and to help out in assisting shoppers. Here's the cool poster made by our friend Chris Roxas, a graphic artist and owner of XS Designs.

The garage sale was held at Farah Ramos' residence in Parang, Marikina at 12nn to 6p.m. A lot of shoppers from the neighborhood came to support our cause. We had so much fun during the garage sale. Our friends from OOTDfied (follow them on IG, @OOTDfied) online clothing store also sold brand new clothes at affordable prices. Another friend also sold really yummy chicharon from Bulacan.

OOTDfied

playing with the costume haha

At the end of the day, we earned a total of Php 6,700 -- not bad for half a day of selling. Since a lot more stuff were left, we'll be holding another garage sale at the same venue next week. Besides that, we'll also have a one-day online flash sale of our pre-loved branded items via www.heywhereyou.com. The date of the sale shall be announced soon. And we're doing all of these for our fellow Filipinos who were struck by typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Let's keep praying for the victims of the typhoon. They need us now so let's not get tired of helping them in any way we can.

xoxo,

city girl

Sponsor A Noche Buena for Typhoon Haiyan Victims

Please support our project for the victims of typhoon Haiyan. We are raising money so we can hold a Christmas party for the typhoon victims in one of the affected communities in Northern Iloilo in Panay Island, Philippines. We plan to have a simple yet meaningful Christmas feast for the victims to give them hope and make them happy, most especially because it will be hard for them to feel the spirit of Christmas with what happened to them. Besides having an early "Noche Buena", we'll be also giving away holiday baskets to the families and toys for the kids. We really hope you could support this cause.

For your donations, visit https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/2des6. Please also like and share our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SponsorANocheBuena.

Sponsor A Noche Buena initiative, a disaster relief project in partnership with Sigma Alpha Nu, a Sorority of University of the Philippines, aims to help provide holiday gift baskets to 1,000 families who are victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. 

Typhoon Haiyan is said to beone of the biggest and most destructive natural calamity that hit the Philippines in the recent years. This disaster is feared to have taken at least 2,000 lives (as of this writing), left thousands injured and missing, hundreds of thousands homeless and at least 2 million people in need of food, water, and medicine. These numbers are expected to soar as search and rescue continue.

This cause was started by a facebook group "Sponsor A Noche Buena" launched by Kei Obusan, who wondered how Christmas will be spent by these people in this very upsetting condition. In the Philippines, Noche Buena is a special Filipino tradition where families get together on Christmas eve to share food and gifts. Imagine being homeless at a time when the rest of the world are celebrating in fancy clothes giving grand gifts to each other. Imagine those children who are out in the cold desperately finding comfort in their temporary shelter. This project is for those people who deserve to be given a spark of hope. A little gift from us who are very fortunate to have Internet running and clean water to drink anytime we want. 

Each "basket of hope" will be filled with some typical noche buena items, some toys for the kids, a letter of kindness from the volunteers and donors, and other stuff that we can give to (hopefully) lighten the burden that the victims are going through. At $10, you can already sponsor a basket that can bring joy to these families.

This campaign will serve as a launchpad to invite partnerships, companies or individuals with the heart of gold who are willing to sacrifice their $10 for the affected families of this calamity. 

Your help is needed. Share your blessings! Thank you. 

Giving Joy to the Kids of SSAE Memory Foundation

Two weeks ago, my friends and I had an outreach program for the kids of Samantha Sarah A. Espanol Memory Foundation. This foundation was founded a couple of years ago by the family of Sarah after she died from a car accident in the US. This foundation aims to provide education to the less fortunate kids in Marikina.

On the kids' first day in school, we visited them. We had some games and the prizes were sponsored by our good friend, Cheena Ng Lio, designer/owner of Amour Manila. Also, the food we served were also sponsored by one of Sarah's classmates in high school. The lunch boxes were sponsored by our ramp model friend, Farah Ramos. She's also responsible for putting the outreach program all together. The loot bags we gave away also had shirts in it. We didn't have much time to gather donations, but this one's been carried out well after only a week of preparation. We had fun, most especially because the kids were too cute! Doing such things is really priceless!:)

It's been the tradition of me and my friends to hold outreach programs annually. But this time, we plan do it more often, whenever we can. It really feels good to share our blessings. Thanks to everyone who have contributed/donated and made this charity event possible. We hope that you continue to help us in our next outreach activities.

FASTBREAK Charity Game

This is probably the funniest basketball game I've ever seen! And the best part...it's for a good cause!:)

It's more than just a basketball. It's entertainment! This charity basketball game is a bright idea of Kiefer Ravena, the Ateneo cager, MVP of UUAP, and son of former basketball player and currently Talk N' Text Coach Bong Ravena. Kiefer, together with his friends in basketball (some are celebrities), and Ignite Media worked on this project with less than a month of preparation. With the common goal of helping the victims of Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, this team cause-oriented people were able to put a great show.

There are also a lot of company sponsors who contributed to this cause. The voluntary presence of different male celebrities are also of great help to the team. And when it comes to ticket sales, well a lot of girls were actually there so I believe the game has raised enough for Sendong victims. haha! The San Juan Arena seemed to be a bit packed.:)

So there were two teams: Meralco Red and Smart White. To name a few players of Smart White were Kiefer Ravena, Chris Tiu, Jhong Hilario, Rico Blanco, Luis Alandi, Marco Alcaraz, Champ of Hale, and Jose Manalo. For the Meralco Red were John Hall, Nico Salva, Thirdy Ravena, Jai Reyes, Young JV, Gab Valenciano, Tado, and Gerald Anderson. Yeah, it's indeed a starstudded line-up! However, I was expecting Xian Lim to be there as he was originally a part of the line-up. Also, I just need to mention that Vice Ganda came to the event.

the teams

 glad that my girls came :)

Gerald took a photo w/ the sick child in front of us

For the halftime, Maynilad sponsored the 3-point Shootout wherein the winner receives Php 5,000.00 cash to be donated to the Sendong victims as well. Those who took part in the 3-point shootout were Chris Ellis of NLEX Road Warriors, Mark Zambrano, James Yap, and Allan Caidic. The winner was Allan Caidic! And I was the one who awarded him haha! Also a "Teach Me How to Dougie" dance contest was conducted wherein participants came from the audience. Some of the players also showed a "sample" of this dance craze. Another halftime game was conducted and I don't know what it's called. They come in pairs and must be able to shoot the most with their partners at a given time. One pair had Chris Tiu and another pair had Bong Ravena. That was probably the longest halftime break ever!

 3 point shootout winner Allan Caidic and other contestants: Chris Ellis, James Yap, Mark Zambrano

Then the craziness went on in the 3rd Quarter. Jose Manalo finally arrived. Just when I though that the craziest part of the game was finding Jhong Hilario tumbling first before shooting the ball, I was so wrong! Because when Jose Manalo came, we enevr stopped laughing! He took the microphone and acted like "Budoy", the role of Gerald Anderson in his primetime teleserye. Then Gerald faced him and they both acted like Budoy! Super funny!!! LOL!:)) And it didn't stop there. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, Jose grabbed the whistle of one of the referees and he acted as if he's one. So there, it started the SO NOT SERIOUS game! Shot clocks were stopped, and the referees just let Jose do the calls. Since Smart White was way behind the score of Meralco Red when Jose arrived, Jose decided to manipulate the game to make his team win. He made really funny calls! Like when Chris Tiu made a 3-point shot, Jose signaled that it's 4, and so the barker reannounced it saying "Chris Tiu FOUR!!!" Jose also gave a lot of free throws to his teammates. Another part of the funny game was when Kiefer passed the ball to the opponent intentionally and took the ball into the basket. That was a cool game! How I wish PBA could be that cool too haha!

FAKE Budoy VS REAL Budoy

 he's really a referee! LOL!

 Kiefer thanking everyone who became a part of the event

two crazies!:)))

Anyway, Smart White won. But the best part of the event was having a lot of people enjoying the game, and having fun together, while at the same time, helping the victims of Typhoon Sendong. I'm so proud that I've been a part of such a good and inspiring enadeavor. Kudos to Kiefer and the whole team who worked on this!:)

Christmas Means Sharing

I apologize for the late post. But I know it's never too late.

It's been my KSP barkada's tradition to celebrate our Christmas Party with underprivileged families, most especially with kids who look forward to a fun and exciting Christmas. This year, we held our Christmas party at the same venue as last year's, at the NCE 1 chapel. This time, it was a different set of families from Payatas whom we shared our Christmas with. We were also thankful for our friends who helped, plus some company sponsors: Toby's and Pepsi.

Again, it was an afternoon packed with games for both kids and adults. Besides the meals we provided, we also gave Noche Buena bags to each family. At the end of the day, we were tired yet happy to have helped.:)

 thank you!

 longest line!

 pink!

 they're singing for us :)

 Noche Buena bags

artwork winners

Eventful November

It has been an eventful November for me! It's been a busy month at work, plus there have been lots of event invitations outside work. Here's a rundown:

Nov. 4 - Send-off for the athletes in the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia (Ultra) and Co-worker's Post-birthday Celebration (White Plains)

Nov. 12 - Smart HTC Beats Launch and Friend's Post-birthday Celebration (Republiq Club)

Nov. 15-18 - Philippine Meteorological Society Annual Exhibit and Convention (House of Representatives and Bureau of Soils and Water Management)

 Cong. Belmonte

Nov. 19 - World Vision's 12-hr Famine (Ynares Sports Arena)

Nov. 20 - 11.20.2011 Run for Pasig River

VIP tent

Nov. 21 - MVP Group of Companies Careerfest (SM Megatrade Hall), Pitoy Moreno Tribute Gala (Isla Ball Room, EDSA Shangri-la Hotel) and Nokia N9 Launch (Prive Luxury Club)

 cute diorama

Voyz

 Pito Moreno's terno

 Sam Milby

 Gary V. sang during the bridal collection

 National Artist and Asia's Fashion Czar, Pitoy Moreno

Thanks to Meralco for the ticket :)

 Nokia N9 Launch

w/ a new friend, Marie Digby:)

Nov. 22 - UP College of Engineering and Maynilad's Signing of Deed of Donation (Sid Consunji AV Room, UP COE Bldg.)

Nov. 23 - MVP Bossing Awards (Meralco Theater)

 fan girl haha

 i love the outfit!

hey Phil!

Nov. 26 - Haroun and Vicky's Wedding (Asya Premiere Suites Boracay) - More photos in my next blog entry (Boracay November 2011)

Nov. 28-29 - Small Water Service Providers Conference (Hotel H2O, Manila Ocean Park)

 he's feeding the fishes

Nov. 28 - Rich and Nanie/Kyla's Wedding (NBC Tent)

 the girls w/ Maricar

 with Ryan

 with Harvey and Kelly

with Japeth 

 with our dude Ali! we missed this guy.

 Don and Joyski

 with Lamont and Marie

after a week, we met again...and she remembered my name!:)

Nov. 29 - PLDT-ABAP's Salute to Filipino Boxers - PSA Forum (Dragon Gate Restaurant), Talk N Text vs B-Meg PBA Game, Friend's Housewarming

 Filipino boxers

party room 

lights and sounds are synced

More events soon! I love being busy...minus the stress haha!:p