THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 10, 1994 TAG: 9406090188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY EILEEN MALEC, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940610 LENGTH: Medium
Not in Texas. Instead, the school is located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
{REST} This educational endeavor known as Operation Literacy is the newest of projects begun by Filipiniana of Virginia and is considered the sister project of Operation Christmas which was started four years ago by the club.
Through Operation Christmas toys, clothes and canned goods are sent to a province in the Philippines. Yet Tessie Baker, chairperson of Operation Literacy, said the club sensed a growing need for educational materials. ``There are so many poor people there who don't have pencils or paper,'' she said. ``They even must share a box of crayons.''
For two months the organization, which includes more than 80 families, collected items and stored them at members' homes until the shipping date. When the packing day came, all items including rulers, coloring books, sharpeners, pens, ribbon, reading books, etc., were gathered at a member's home, boxed and sent to Regent Forex Inc., a local shipping company that ships exclusively to the Philippines.
Despite the fact that five boxes were packed, Cesar Aralar, the club's president, said any new effort is hard to start. But he hopes that the Filipino community and others will become aware of this venture and get involved in the future.
Each box costs $122 to ship, but Joe and Tita Cabaccan, owners of Regent Forex Inc., do the shipping for free. The company has been helping Filipiniana in this manner for the past four years. ``We have encouraged other organizations to do this, but it has been only the Filipino community who has answered,'' said Tita Cabaccan.
``This is still open to any organization that is willing to help people of our country.'' The items will be shipped Friday and will arrive in the Philippines in 35 to 40 days.
Many in the club said they feel that this is the only way they can share the American dream with their distant relatives. ``We feel so fortunate to be here,'' said Baker. ``We are just paying back our countrymen and letting them know we haven't forgotten them.''
And though the club members may not ever see the benefits of their giving, they certainly do hear of it. ``We get letters from home saying they got the needed materials and how it helped them,'' she said. ``It just blesses our hearts.''
by CNB