Christmas is a time of giving. It is a selfless commitment of wholeheartedly sharing one’s blessings to others. But it doesn’t only happen during Christmastime, this selflessness happens all-year-round. As humans, one is inherently gifted with the virtue of malasakit or empathy and compassion. The PLDT Group anchors itself in its six core values – one of which is malasakit.
Renoir Group’s Luke Callachan distributes a Sack of Joy bag to a kid in the Aeta Community in Porac, Pampanga.
2019 is a continuous effort to show empathy and compassion to one’s neighbor. The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) has been a constant force of remarkable selfless love. 2019 is the year where PSF expanded its connections and built relationships by partnering with old and new organizations and departments.
“The spirit of volunteerism goes hand in hand with compassion and empathy. What makes the Sack of Joy relevant is that this initiative is done by the employees. It is through them and their generosity that we come together to spread joy to the least of our brothers and sisters,” said PSF President Esther O. Santos.
The gift of giving
Last December 10, Renoir Group’s Luke Callachan partnered with PSF and the NLEX Tollways to spread some early Christmas cheer to the kids of the Aeta community from Porac, Pampanga. The kids received 200 Sack of Joy bags.
Through the donation platform justgiving.com, Callachan, a project manager from the United Kingdom, along with his colleagues and friends, raised money to help children celebrate Christmas with the joy of education.
PLDT FVP for Tax Management Atty. Cris Guhit helps distribute a PLDT Sack of Joy bag during the outreach activity.
Callachan has been staying in the country since July 2019. According to him, the Philippines is among the top countries that fondly celebrates Christmas. “If I’m going to be a part of the tradition to spread Christmas joy, it has got to be in the Philippines. It’s so lovely to see so many smiling, pretty faces,” said Callachan during the Sack of Joy distribution in Porac, Pampanga.
The tollways group also distributed noche buena packs and slippers to the families.
Sharing one’s blessings
2019 is truly a year of change – one that is always geared towards bigger and brighter things. This year, the PLDT and Smart Tax Departments converged into a one big team. With this, more responsibilities and greater efforts are expected. Without a doubt, the team delivered with flying colors. As a way to celebrate this particular milestone, the employees of the PLDT and Smart Tax Departments shared their blessings with the kids of the Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas in Paco, Manila.
In partnership with PSF, the PLDT and Smart Tax Departments distributed 100 Sack of Joy bags to the children of Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas.
In photo are the PLDT and Smart Tax Department with the PLDT-Smart Foundation team along with the students of Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas in Paco, Manila.
“It fills our hearts with so much joy to see the smiling faces of the children of Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas. As they are, these children already feel so blessed. And we are equally privileged and honored to be able to give back to their community. Their happiness means so much to us; their warm smiles fill us with contentment,” said PLDT FVP for Tax Management Atty. Cris Guhit.
According to Atty. Guhit, what makes the program special is how the employee-volunteers of the PLDT and Smart Tax Department all came together to help create wonderful memories for the children. The employee-volunteers truly did a good job in spreading so much Christmas joy to the children. “May they continue to engage in collaborative and charitable efforts such as this outreach program,” Atty. Guhit said.
Atty. Guhit also emphasized the role of PSF in enabling them to do the outreach program for the children of Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas. “We are extremely grateful to PSF for joining us as we spread some holiday cheer. May this be a start of our partnership in bringing smiles to various communities through different outreach programs,” Atty. Guhit said.
“The true essence of giving is understanding that there is always so much more that we can do to help those who are in need. We are happy that our PLDT and Smart Tax Departments gave us this opportunity to share our blessings to the community in Asociacion De Damas De Filipinas. It’s one of the many wonderful partnerships we have built this year. For that, we are grateful,” Santos said.
