Rotary Club of Makati, Philippines

The work is done, the numbers are in, and kudos are due. This year’s Christmas Bazaar, our 23rd, rang with resounding success, raking in revenues that will go a long way in pushing forward the club’s service program for the year. From the point of view of attendance by RC Makati Rotarians and Anns alone—58 Rotarians and 60 Anns for a total of 118 attendees—this was a rousing success. All credit goes to our hardworking and dedicated Rotary Anns, led this year by First Ann Pina Rojas, who put in time and effort to get things done and done well.

The Intercon ballroom shed its ballroom image on Sunday, 7th November, to let in the 116 concessionaires who made up the bazaar, vendors selling a wide assortment of products that beckoned to shoppers to come hither and buy. At 9AM, Mrs. Elenita Binay, wife of H.E. Vice President Jejomar Binay (a member of the club), assisted by Dist. Gov Ed Alvarez & Ann Mariza, cut the ceremonial ribbon to declare the bazaar open.

The vendors, most of them “loyalists” who have been with us for many years, were joined by six NGO groups who were given space, for free, for their own fund-raising efforts: Gawad Kalinga-Malabon, Hands-On Manila, Rotaract Club of Makati, Catholic Women’s League, Earth Bags, and Catholic Women’s Club.

The White Elephants Committee, headed by Caling Young and Irene Barcelon, had managed to fill their corner with goodies sent in by kind donors—Ludy Campos, Jean Chavez, Papat Escaler, Charina Garcia, Tesha Garcia, Yvonne Kuan, Et Librea, Lu Limjoco, Menchit Ordoveza, First Ann Pina Rojas, Cat Rufino, Chinit Rufino, Baby Samson, and Nancy Sy.

How hard the Sponsorship Committee under chairperson Jean Chavez (with “a little help” from hubby Frank) and co-chair Cecile Varela worked, is evident in the results—an impressive P735,000 from generous donors who heeded an impassioned call: Felix Ang; Rante Aguila; Wilson & Nancy Ang/Bio Research; George Barcelon; PP Cesar Campos; Mr. Wilbur Chan, Jefferson Cheng/Peoples Aircargo & Warehousing Co. Inc.; Elizabeth Co/Hobbies Barbecue; Rtn. Mike Escaler; IPDG Sid Garcia/Trinity Healthcare Services, Wilfred Gui; Danny Ignacio/Eton Properties Philippines; Manny Javelosa, Anna Kingsu/Kingsu Glass & Aluminum Supply; DGND Robert Kuan; Davy Lee/Central Fermentation Industrial Corp.; Janet Ley, Alfonso Lim/Tower Steel Corp., Emma Lin/State Service Agency, PP Conrad Marty/UMC Finance; Samson Omengan/Delta Earth Moving Inc.; James Ong/ORE Asia Mining & Dev't Corp.; Johnny Rocha; Ettore Rossi/Advanced Foundation Construction Systems Corp; Taba Samson; Sanyo Seiku Stainless Corp.; Johnny & Fely Simpson; Marc Soong; Ms. Annie Tan; Johnson Tan; Tony Tan/Altan Trading & Development Corp., Unionbank; Alice Vitangol; Eddie Yap/Clairmont Realty & Development Corp.; Kathy Yu/Gymboree Serendra & Greenbelt 5; and Warren & Kathy Yu.

Another busy group was the Last Angel Committee chaired by Tessie Amparo, which aimed to raise enough funds to buy Christmas presents for some 1,000 young boys and girls from 8 beneficiary institutions and communities. Rotarians willingly played a supporting role to the lead stars, as they manned the barkers’ corner to make announcements and issue reminders and dutifully carried shopping bags for their Anns.

Kudos to the Anns for another successful run—First Ann Pina Rojas, overall chair; Mimi Valerio and Terry Tambunting, Concessionaires’ Committee; Lu Limjoco and Teody Buenaflor, Advance Ticket Sales; Bina Nandwani and Becky Garcia, Day Ticket Sales; Et Librea and Yvonne Kuan, Finance; Tessie Amparo, Ludy Campos and Angela Quila, Last Angel; Tere Boyer and Chit Marty, Marshals and Sscurity; Brin Panlilio and Sue Ann Nolido, Publicity; Menchit Ordoveza and Cat Rufino, Entrance & Exit; Jojo Borromeo and Milette Carlos, Raffle & Prizes; Caling Young and Irene Barcelon, White Elephants, Myrna Adriano and Menchu Pascual, Physical Arrangements; and Jean Chavez and Cecile Varela, Sponsorships.