That Filipinos love their family is an understatement. Having a Filipino family means you are not alone, and you will never be left in need.
To Pinoys, service and care for loved ones and even strangers are second nature. Many have taken on this tradition of bayanihan and made it a family value.
In the last six years, the Jollibee Foundation has strived to honor Filipino families. Through the annual Jollibee Family Values Awards, families turning advocacy into action are recognized and celebrated.
The stories of this year’s awardees not only give us a glimpse into their lives, but also inspire us to step up and accept the responsibility to help change the country for the better.
Castañeda family
A parent should never have to bury one’s child. Unfortunately, when it happens, life can never be the same. For some, such loss may lead to bitterness.
However, in the case of Victor and Elizabeth Castañeda, losing their three-year-old son Enzo to liver cancer only made them more determined to ensure that his memory would live on through the survival of other cancer-stricken children.
Elizabeth, or Cheche, recalls that the advocacy was actually Enzo’s idea. Before going to his checkups, he would always say, “Mommy, let’s pass by the grocery and buy candies for the children in the hospital.”
In the four years since its establishment, the I Love Enzo: Fight Against Cancer Foundation has helped about 400 patients by partially or fully financing their chemotherapy and other medication and expenses.
The foundation helps families who lose their children to cancer, and visits them to provide emotional and psychological support. The Castañedas have also put up a library in the hospital where children can relax while waiting for treatment.
During Christmas, the Castañedas find joy in hosting children’s parties. The family has also continued Cheche’s annual gift-giving to over 200 children in Tondo, Manila, something she has been doing for over 30 years now.
The Castañedas may no longer see Enzo, but his spirit and his generous heart live on in every life they save.
Sola family
It’s hard not to get overwhelmed by domestic problems. For the Sola family, Joe Dean and his wife Ardis, along with their children Jerome, Therese and Marian, dealing with problems means that the solution must also be all-encompassing. Thus, the He Cares Mission Street Children Caring Center and its shelter, scholarship, microfinance, livelihood and values formation programs were created.
Joe Dean began his mission 20 years ago with only P20. He had just bought himself some pan de sal and drinks, which drew the attention of two young beggars. When they asked him for some of the bread, he could not say no, and while feeding them, discovered their sad plight.
Joe Dean realized that this was his purpose in life, and he proceeded to find a way to send the children to school. His Balik Aral Program has since helped 1,200 scholars.
But Joe Dean and Ardis knew that the children would not be able to attend school for long if their parents were to lose the “income” of the children from the streets. So they went to create a microfinance program through the Balik Hanapbuhay Program, which has since helped over a hundred mothers in several urban areas.
This program started with a $1,000 donation 10 years ago, and has created a ripple of long-term effects, such as mothers being able to keep their children off the streets and creating a sustainable income for families.
The Sola family also maintains regular feeding programs and conducts medical missions. At a certain point, the family thought that even if they did not have much, they were still more fortunate than many others and felt compelled to open their own home to those who truly had nowhere to go.
Street children are free to “drop in” at their garage for a meal, or to take a bath.
It is perhaps this lack of delineation between the family and those they have helped which gave their children a unique perspective in helping others. As their eldest child, Jerome, says, “I can’t imagine life without the street children.”
But the Sola family believes that it is not just the body and mind of others they must care for. So they likewise created a values and spiritual formation program once a week and, with support from the church, they have sponsored hundreds of baptisms and marriages.
Through their efforts, they have bought a lot in Quezon City where they are building a shelter, while continuously looking for funding to complete it. Upon completion, this center can accommodate 100 children, who otherwise have nowhere else to go.
Bumacas family
Donato Bumacas, a Kalinga native, knows what it’s like to go hungry every day. He’s also aware of the extent of the problems that the country’s indigenous people (IP) face.
That’s why he strove to have an education to give him the chance to live a better life. He chose to earn a degree in Education so that he could go back and help his people rise above their circumstances.
Today, Donato and his wife Merlita are both teachers who use their talents and resources not just to educate their students but to also fund the education of other deserving IP students.
Lamenting the “fast acculturation” of IPs, the Bumacas family finds ways for the children of IP communities to have a life of dignity, and to be empowered to help themselves and remain proud of their heritage.
Over the last 16 years, they have helped 1,350 students from the Kalinga, Badjao, Aeta and Igorot tribes. Annual projects include feeding programs, school supplies distribution, and the giving of slippers. They also used their knowledge to lobby for the basic rights of IPs, such as having a water pump in their communities.
One of the pet projects of the Bumacas family and their children Lovelie, Lyndane, Ledona and Lyndon is environmental protection. They regularly hold tree-planting sessions in various IP communities, where they involve the community in caring for their surroundings and planting more sustainable and nutritive crops.
The efforts of the Bumacas family have made them closer to one another. Their activities have allowed them to grow, not just as individuals but as a family.
They look forward to seeing the people they have helped do even more for their own communities.