Visits home for erstwhile street children to welcome 2009 activities
Manila, Philippines, January 31, 2009—In its efforts to engage its 650-strong workforce in endeavors beyond business, Headstrong, a global IT consultancy and solutions company, formed Headstrong 2.0utreach in its Manila Global Delivery Center (MGDC) to institutionalize community-conscious and socially-veered programs.
Formed in November 2008 as part of the employee engagement committee, Headstrong 2.0utreach has thus far organized three internal activities that conjure employees in to whole-hearted sharing.
And in its latest bid towards meeting its mandated mission, the team has invited 20 Headstrong volunteers on Saturday, January 24, to venture out of the workplace and engage in a day of fun and giving—a first for 2009.
The volunteers visited the residents of Virlanie Foundation-run, Gabay Buhay Home, bringing with them some of the items collected in 2008 during the “24 to 24” drive—a month-long program to gather unused clothes, toys, books and other items for donation.
The day’s activity commenced at 9am with a short audio-video presentation about Virlanie and its mission. After watching the video clip, the participants were paired with a resident or two for a getting-to-know session—to warm up the atmosphere. They then shared their partner’s story to the audience.
The day was lined-up with games where the teens and the teens at heart displayed their fun-loving spirit. Prizes were awarded to the winners of hep-hep-hooray, sack race, and bulungan.
The former street children brought out their artistic talents in an Art competition with the theme “Ang Pangarap Ko”. The pieces would be judged by Headstrong employees on a later date. Some of the residents also performed to a couple of dance tunes and played their acoustic rendition of “This is me”—clearly a favorite by everyone in the crowd.
Ending the day’s activity was the giving of tokens to the teens, using the funds collected from the sale of unclaimed Christmas baskets, and the donation of boxes after boxes of clothing and other items.
“The kids really enjoyed the day and are very thankful for the donations,” said Lourdes Magdasoc, social worker for Virlanie.
Before going back to Headstrong, the volunteers dropped by another Virlanie home to donate toys to the kids.
The volunteers were Lareina Marie Yu, Maricris Chan (with four-year old daughter, Ash), Michelle Timbre, Lee Malacaman, Beth Tradel, Bong Gabo, Desiree Feliciano, Bea Sumampong, Analyn Villarico, Ben Castro, Marge Morante, Jay-R Patron, Kristine Garalza, Malaine Limson, Nelza Buico, Kim Mejares, Perlito Luba, Geboy Teodoro, Agee Villanueva, and Karen Kue.
Last December, Headstrong invited 12 kids from the Children’s Joy Foundation to serenade the workplace. The different teams and departments donated cash and various items to the children as they played Christmas tunes and pop music in a caroling treat.
Headstrong 2.0utreach has lined up a number of activities for 2009 and beyond including visits to elderly homes and orphanages, community builds, environment clean-up, and voluntourism, in response to some of the ideas suggested by the employees.
Contact: outreach<at>headstrong<dot>com
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