Making Christmas Merrier

By Elymae Valeriano and Valerie Delos Reyes, TeamAsia Marketing and Accounts Department Interns

“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ― Mother Teresa

It has been a great year filled with blessings. And as everyone was preparing for the festivities that come with the season, we were also sharing some Christmas cheer on our own! We were fortunate enough to meet  many kids who did not only make us smile but also taught us about the essence of the Yuletide season.

It is about giving back the blessings we received and share them to people who were not as fortunate as all of us. Ultimately, it’s about spreading joy and love!

For this year’s My Dream in a Shoebox, TeamAsians together with several sponsors gathered once again to bring the spirit of the season to kids from various parts of the world. As interns, this was our first time to join a CSR event and our experience was nothing short of amazing.

Though it was raining hard during our My Dream in a Shoebox gift-giving event, all volunteers soldiered on despite the inclement weather. Upon arrival at the venue, other volunteers were already unloading the shoeboxes for distribution. We were astounded by the number of shoeboxes that were delivered, we were so sure that through these gifts we can make the kids smile and enjoy the holidays.

The program started with a prayer, followed by parlor games. We were able to share with the kids the fun of the activities by guiding them through the various obstacles. We were also entertained by the fact that the kids were really giving the games their all, knowing that various surprises await the winner.

We also had story telling by our very own Ma’am Monette. It was heartwarming to see these children with big smiles on their faces. They were so excited to receive their gifts.
When the gift-giving came, one by one we saw the faces of the kids light up as they received the shoeboxes filled with school supplies. It was truly an emotional experience that opened our eyes to the importance of the day’s events and the preciousness of each and every dream that we were able to enrich that day.

We are really thankful that we met these kids, because they made us realize the essence of the season. We were able to open our eyes about their plight and how we as individuals can help them move past this and achieve bigger dreams and grander goals.

The experience of meeting and spending time with these kids was enough to make us smile. And for us, that’s enough to make our Christmas a tad more merry.