Various fund drives have been featured in this paper’s Public Service section to raise funds to finance the medical needs of indigent patients suffering from hydrocephalus, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, pneumonia and congenital heart problems, among others.
Though it is a priority of The FREEMAN Foundation to cater to sick indigent children, adult patients were extended help too for the treatment of ovarian cysts, tumors and eye problems, among others.
Aside from the launching of fund drives, The Foundation had also addressed a number of demands for immediate patient care by providing medicines and financial assistance for laboratory examinations and emergency procedures.
In February of 2007, The Foundation sustained its advocacy by initiating a blood donation activity for the Love Month. The mass blood donation which was participated in by employees of The FREEMAN and Banat News, avid readers, and members of Deadspotters Society (a Bisrock clan) was done in coordination with the Regional Blood Coordinating Council. Donors underwent screening before they submitted to the bloodletting. They were given a membership card by the RBCC which entitles them, and their immediate family, free blood from the blood bank should the need arise.
In July 12, the 16-man Core Group returned to barangay Tan-awan (seven kilometers from Tubigon proper) to conduct a “Balik Eskwela Fun Day”. The other year, the Foundation delivered there a 25-inch Kolin color TV, ViStar Integrated Receiver/Decoder, a digital satellite receiver made for Dream Satellite, which is into the manufacture of tools for visual programming.
The Foundation was given the task to facilitate certain contributions made in response to the dire need of uplifting the quality of public school education, most especially in the countryside or hinterland barangays, through the distribution of tools and equipment in mass coaching provided by the Operation Damayan of the Star Group of Publications.
The act benefited 113 pupils of the Tan-awan Elementary School who were also given school supplies. Aside from the fun day, the Core Group renovated a classroom there with the help of community partners to accommodate donated books and other learning materials/tools.
After Tan-awan, the Foundation was seen distributing relief goods, medicines and grocery items in three barangays of Mandaue City affected by fire. Again, the Foundation partnered with The Philippine Star’s Operation Damayan.
The last project was carried out in December to sustain a third year of the “Christmas with an Angel” project which benefited 98 selected children that were picked from Danao City, Minglanilla, Carmen and Balamban, and Cebu City’s mountain barangays of Pung-ol Sibugay, Sirao, Taptap and Busay. The kids had a Christmas party at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel and a field trip to the Taoist Temple in Beverly Hills. These indigent children went home with bundles of joy for them and for their parents.
All of the projects designed during the strategic planning at Intosan Resort in Danao City from March 9-10, 2007 were realized because of your unwavering support – yes, YOU – our generous benefactors, the charitable readers of this paper.
The Foundation’s solid base of donors and sponsors has been its lifeblood. It could not have functioned this well/efficient or could not have preserved lives if it weren’t for YOU, our charitable readers – young and old, from basically all walks of life.
Several donors prefer to belong to a long, long, long list of anonymouses. One person whose generosity touched our hearts most, whose acts of philanthropy shall forever be remembered is the late Don Albino Gothong who used to pledge P20,000 to P50,000 (under this roster of anonymouses) to be able to support children confined at the charity wards of state hospitals that the Foundation is a partner of.
On our 14th year as charity arm of The FREEMAN, the Foundation nurtures its mission of promoting humanitarian efforts and extending a helping hand to those most in need of medical care and or assistance.
It operates on the principle that charity can be likened to dew from heaven which falls gently on drooping flowers in the stillness of night. Its refreshing and revivifying effects are felt, seen and admired.
Charity flows from a good heart and looks beyond the skies for approval and reward. It seeks to heal the wounds inflicted by misfortune and strives to calm the troubled mind.
The FREEMAN Foundation is forever indebted to YOU – our benefactors/sponsors/donors/patrons. Thank you for helping us secure the good of others, a sentiment so genial and excellent that should always be emblazoned upon every thought and every act in our life.