La Huerta Meeting a Huge Success!

The third monthly meeting for Buttons to Hope was held on August 22, 2009 at the La Huerta, Sta. Teresita Baao, Camarines Sur. It coincided with the blessing and inauguration of the Button Hole, the new training facility at La Huerta.

The meeting was a big success for several reasons:

1) For the first time, F.A.R.M.ers from Baao and other parts of Bicol were able to participate and share their ideas on Buttons to Hope.

2) The meeting was an opportunity for old and new F.A.R.M.ers to meet and interact. The F.A.R.M.ers who attended the meeting were Bernadette de los Santos, Jane Barcenas-Bisuna, Mia Barandon-Bulalacao, Rommel Bulalacao, Tootsie Belmonte-Villaranda, Ritzie Robosa, Tom Ballesteros, Louella Barrameda-Ballesteros, Jessamyn Badong-Sotaso, Yayet Bricia-Requintina, Apple Doroin, Audie Agtarap, Sarah Barrameda-Balares, Vince and William Dato, April Lanuzo-Serrano, Nora Almen and Gigi Federis. Bernadette hosted and Jane chaired the meeting.

3) The F.A.R.M.ers' level of enthusiasm and commitment to support the project was overwhelming. The amount of pledges for Buttons to Hope amounted to P80,000 from a few F.A.R.M.ers present in the meeting. With the estimated cost of P10,000 per semester, the amount raised at the meeting alone could cover the whole 2-year technical-vocational courses for two scholars from Baao.

4) Bidibidi had some good news, too. Her contribution to Buttons to Hope for the month of July amounted to over P10,000. That also translates to another semester for one Baao scholar. She also announced exciting activities and engagements for F.A.R.M. that we need to watch out for.

5) F.A.R.M. and Buttons to Hope will soon be registered as a formal organization through the help of Atty. Tom and Louella Ballesteros. Given a legal personality, the Buttons to Hope project will hopefully be expanded and extended to support more scholars from Baao in the future.

6) More exciting activities to promote F.A.R.M.ers' interaction and camaraderie are being worked out. A Buttons to Hope meet and F.A.R.M.ers tour is planned for October 2009 in the province of Bohol. Details of this activity will be announced later.

7) Upcoming activites were also announced. F.A.R.M.ers will participate in a garage sale on August 30 at the Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City. F.A.R.M.ers monthly meetings will continue in Manila and could also be held in Bicol, whenever necessary. Other fund-raising activities are forthcoming but details still need to be threshed out.

The La Huerta meeting opened a lot of opportunities, raised hopes and strengthened F.A.R.M.ers' commitment for Buttons to Hope. But more than that, it proved that people can make a big difference both by working and having wholesome fun. It was indeed a productive and laughter-filled day and it was a huge, huge success!

To learn more about the history of the project and past fund-raising activities, you may type "Buttons to Hope" in the search bar of the F.A.R.M. blog, or click "Buttons to Hope" under labels.