Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

So, Happy New Year, damn it!

Dear Fellow RCMNers,

Before anything else, allow me to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

Perhaps not a few of you are tired of getting this greeting, which probably swamped your mobile phone and e-mail mailboxes. Given the challenges ahead – the global crisis, its repercussions here, the run-up to the next national elections, and others – maybe it will help to hear more well wishes.

So, happy New Year, damn it!

Seriously, the gloomy forecast suggests that this year Rotary is more relevant. Many of us are already feeling the pinch, and the others are probably bracing themselves for the worst. But in a sense, we are still the lucky ones. Imagine the hardship and anxiety of those with lesser means. No matter how difficult our situation is now, there always seems to be someone else somewhere experiencing something worse.

Actually, we don’t have to look far to notice the needy. If you haven’t been to our adopted villages, Barangay Singkamas and Santa Cruz, lately, you might be shocked. You might be surprised to know that our feeding program has run its course, as our club funding was good to cover only the first semester.

If haven’t been to our housing project with Gawad Kalinga at Ave Maria Village in Tanay, Rizal, you might be saddened by people who still have no place to call home. And those already given a house have to contend with living without electricity – and are eagerly waiting to the foundation of Meralco to deliver its promise to supply power there.

Dare to hope

Certainly, there are many in the club who are not normally daunted by such challenges. There are others who are inspired by people like US President-elect Barack Obama, who symbolizes that big dreams are possible.

Also, some of you would probably be inspired by the fact that our “small” contributions make the lives of others better.

Take for example the clubs’ donation to enroll the boys at F. Benitez Elementary School (Main) to the Boy Scouts program. You probably did not think much about giving P40 to each boy.

One of the boys died in December, as his family was forcibly evicted from a squatter area in Makati City. Because he was a Boy Scout, his family stood to receive P10,000 from the program’s insurance benefits.

Also in the same school, you will be pleased to know that our members donated Christmas gifts to some needy children – a project initiated by Immediate President Joe Reaño. Tales about Joe making girls cry is nothing new, of course, and he did it again when he apparently realized the dream of a Grade 1 pupil to have a pink trolley bag that bears some cartoon characters.

The gift giving did not before Christmas Day, either. Yesterday (January 6), belated holiday presents were to be given to underprivileged children in another depressed village, Barangay East Rembo. Our very own Rotarian Karl McLean made this project possible.

And also during the break, a number of our members, along with an army of workers from the firm of President-Elect Vic Austria and students from The Manila Times College, donated their time and labor to volunteer at Ave Maria.

These are a few of the things that make us proud to be part of Rotary, and to be a member with our own leaders.

We have a lot more projects ahead – the computer program in Pampanga, for one. If by chance we feel the gloomy tiding creeping up on us, try thinking about the well-wishes we got over the holidays and the small but meaningful impact we are making the lives of others.