Spread Christmas joy by sharing a toy

Think about it. With 600 stores throughout the country collecting an average two to three huge boxes, plus corporate partners, schools and sponsors significantly bolstering the collection of books and toys, more children will benefit from this year’s Jollibee MaAga ang Pasko Christmas drive. “The response has been overwhelming this year,” confirms Jollibee public relations manager Arline Adeva. Although the collection of toys from such business entities as Vibal, publishers of brand-new books, and STI has beefed up the collection, the individual efforts of the Jolly Toy Scouts in gathering donations have proven invaluable.

Unfortunately however, not all donations are usable. “We observed that every year, thousands of donated toys need to be discarded because they are too dirty or broken,” says Gold Tantoco, vice president for marketing of Jollibee. “We didn’t want to waste any toys this year, so we thought to spend time and effort cleaning and fixing all the toys we get. This should make for better, nicer toys for more recipients. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring smiles to the faces of thousands more kids this Christmas.” More than a million toys and books have been given away since the program was first started. While toys constitute 70 percent of the collected items, gifts of books are likewise welcomed, as hopefully, these would encourage a love for reading among recipients.

At a warehouse in Makati, we observed how the donated items were sorted and cleaned to attain a lower discard rate. Jolly Toy Scouts and various volunteer groups shared the task of cleaning and mending thousands upon thousands of toys. The volunteer groups included Hands On Manila, Jollibee Foundation and Jollibee Head Office employees, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Teves Dry Cleaning, Fresh Clean Homes, Stratworks Marketing Communications, Worklink Inc., JimenezBasic, various media partners, St. Scholastica’s College and volunteers from other schools.

“We are espousing volunteerism and are happy with the turnout,” says Arline Adeva. “If possible, we want the toys to be as good as new. We don’t want the beneficiaries to feel that they are being given hand-me-downs.” Thus, there is extra effort to clean up and rehabilitate the toys to tiptop shape. As an initial salvo for the gift- giving, a “grand bash” was planned for children identified and chosen by the DSWD.

Although the task of tidying up donations is time-consuming and requires meticulous effort, spirits remain high as volunteers apply themselves to the job. “This is very fulfilling because there is a direct contribution to make each child- recipient happy,” says Adeva. “Through this project, both giver and receiver feel equally blessed.”

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You can still make a child happy this Christmas. Until Dec. 31, 2008, drop your book or toy donations in the MaAga and Pasko boxes at the Jollibee store nearest you.