MANILA, Philippines - Ricky Reyes has been helping cancer-stricken children for more than a decade now. His longest charitable work is encapsulated in the success of Child Haus, a temporary shelter for these young, underprivileged patients and their families while seeking treatment in the city.
Ricky has been pooling all available resources and making quite a success out of it with Child Haus. He has mobilized most of his friends in the private sector to become involved so that the dream of every child, who has cancer, to get better is being realized one day at a time.
Thanks to the generosity of SM Development Corp.’s big man Hans Sy, who shares Ricky’s passion to help make the lives of cancer-stricken children more bearable, Child Haus is building its second home in a new location.
According to Ricky, the six-storey building being donated by Sy is now under construction on Agoncillo St., Taft Ave., Manila. Its location will make it convenient for patients seeking medical treatments at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and nearby government hospitals.
Ricky said that Child Haus 2 will mean expanding the institution’s operations — to include adult cancer patients among the beneficiaries. “We will have more rooms in the new Child Haus, and definitely, we will be able to house more patients and help them better. This is very good news as our help is sometimes limited because of the (distance) of our existing location on Mapang-akit St., Barangay Pinahan in Quezon City. In Quezon City, Child Haus patients have more access to hospitals like Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), East Avenue Medical Center, Phil. Heart Center and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), among others.”
Sy announced the construction of Child Haus 2 during the celebration of his 59th birthday at the original Child Haus (which he also donated to the foundation), in the presence of his wife Carol and their children, family, friends and other Child Haus benefactors — mostly private individuals who have joined and supported Ricky in his advocacy. The inauguration of Child Haus 2, which is going to have 200 beds to serve 400 patients, will be in December.
Sy had rejected the grand birthday celebration originally prepared for him in favor of a smaller, but more meaningful get-together at the Child Haus. Throughout the years, Sy has made it a habit to hold special family occasions at the Child Haus to share food, love, laughter and to bless the children with their company. For this celebration, he announced that he will be the one giving Ricky a gift — and that is Child Haus 2.
The grand gesture brought tears to Ricky’s eyes. He thanked Sy profusely, “Thank you is not enough. Hans has always been selflessly generous to us at Child Haus. We are very blessed to have him. I can only promise him that Child Haus will continue what it has been doing — being a home to kids who ultimately become better.”
He continued, “I told Hans, on behalf of kids who will come, even 50 years from now, kahit wala na kami sa mundo, the kids will be forever thankful because they have a home.”
To date, Child Haus has helped more than 11,000 patients coming from all over the country, many of whom have experienced healing from their life-threatening ailments, thanks in part to the care they have received at Child Haus. The latest statistics showed 51 patients got better already and are only expected to be back for their monthly check-up.