On May 15, 2003, the Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW), a humanitarian group in Slington, Ontario, Canada braved the SARS scare and came to San Esteban to distribute sleeping kits to our children.
SCAW is run by civic-minded Canadians that seeks donations from its own people and espouses the welfare of children particularly in the third world countries. It has tapped the Kiwanis International to identify places where they can distribute sleeping kits.
A sleeping kit consists of several items among them clothes, sleeping, paraphernalia, school supplies, slippers, rain coat, backpack and others. It is wroth Canadian $30.00 or approximately P1,000.00 per kit. Multiply this by 500 kits and this projects costs half a million pesos.
Four Canadian SCAW volunteers came from half the world to oversee the distribution accompanied but he International President of Kiwanis who happens to be Filipino, Mr. Jaunito Torres. Assisting in the distribution are members of the Kiwanis Club of Vista Verde, the club responsible in recommending San Esteban as one of the beneficiaries in the Philippines.
Prominent among the members of the Kiwanis Club of Vista Verde who came to assist is the former club President and San Estebanian, Atty. Jolly Mendoza who coordinated to the Mayor and Vice Mayor this well-meaning project. Another San Estebanian and Kiwani member is Peping Castro from Ansad who is top executive of Suzuki Phils. But was not able to come due to previous commitments.
The local team assigned to keep orderliness were the staff of the Municipal Social Welfare, Day Care Teachers, Barangay Nutirion Scholars and the Barangay Health Workers. The hosts were the Ladies Circle of San Esteban led by Mrs. Evelyn Abad and Zoraida Mendoza. Cultural presentations performed by the children and trained by Kelly Baldonado were well applauded by the guests. Banners such as “we love SCAW’, “Canada and Philippines Friends Forever:” and “We are God’s Work of Art” were displayed.
On that balmy summer day, 500 children aged 6 to 10 years old of San Esteban trooped to the Municipal Auditorium to receive their sleeping kits and went home with smiles on their faces. Indeed this is an early Christmas gift they will cherish forever.
