Raising Funds, Raising Spirits

It was two days before Augie Altarejos’ 40th birth anniversary that I received an email from Totong Derayunan. In the email, he asked my help in editing the Letter of Pledge that was to be sent out to all Batchmates of the Class of 1982. The letter itself was finished through the collaboration of Joselito Porras, Bitoy Apuhin, Peter Ploteña, and Totong himself.

After making the necessary corrections, I sent back the edited version of the Letter of Pledge to Totong via email on Augie’s birth anniversary itself, August 20, 2006. The Letter of Pledge went like this:

LETTER OF PLEDGE

One day in May of 2006, during the enrollment period for School Year 2006-2007, this incident occurred at the St. Joseph’s Registrar’s Office:

“I saw a member of Batch 1982 talking to Mrs. Hiponia. Sad thing was that our batchmate was pleading for her son to be admitted for enrollment even though she only has enough money to cover half of the enrollment fee. Having witnessed this, I left with a heavy heart. I experienced a deep pity and felt so sorry for our batchmate….”

OUR FELLOW SJS-LS ALUMNI OF 1982,
Pity and feeling sorry is not enough! WE CAN MAKE A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENCE… NOW!!!

Yes, there are a number of our batchmates who need our helping hand. Amidst the current global financial crisis, the officers decided to become an avenue of blessings through your pledges. WOULD WE RATHER JUST LOOK AND WATCH? OR, WOULD WE RATHER TAKE PART AND TAKE ACTION FOR THIS NOBLE CAUSE? Batchmates, this will be a meaningful Homecoming because in the midst of
celebration we do remember our true goal-- and that is
to help.

Lest we forget, although part of your pledges will be used for the Homecoming celebration, a bigger portion will be allotted for our Scholarship Drive.
My dear batchmates, we encourage you to PLEDGE the MINIMUM amount of USD$200.00. However, if your heart still desires to commit to a higher Pledge, we will gladly accept the offer.

This will not necessarily be a one time endowment since your donations may be made on a staggered basis. HERE ARE THE STEPS:
1. Just inform us of your pledges/commitment through our official website, LOG ON TO AND BECOME A MEMBER TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sjsls1982 before the end of SEPTEMBER, 2006.
2. The actual DUE DATE for remittances of PLEDGES will be on or before JANUARY 31, 2007 through our Dollar Bank Account at Philippine National Bank Amelia Avenue Branch under the name of GRACE UY AND ANTHONY P DERAYUNAN OR LUZ J. MONTELIBANO AND GREG L. JORDAN.
3. For confidentiality and security concerns, if you do not wish to indicate the amount of your pledge on our official website, you can EMAIL the pledge amount to JOHNNY GO – [insert email address] with a copy furnished to ANTHONY P. DERAYUNAN with email address tondera0515@yahoo.com and JOSELITO F. PORRAS with email address traders1@bcd.i-next.net.

My dear batchmates, we hope you take part in this noble cause for whatever we share shall be returned a hundredfold….

LIVE JESUS IN OUR HEARTS… FOREVER

This became the start of the frenzied round of activities that ultimately culminated in the realization of our goal, which was also a dream that Augie Altarejos cherished to make come true and had made come true for a number of students of St. Joseph’s High School.

The Dream: to help as many students as we can to finish high school from St. Joseph’s on a scholarship.

Christmas 1982. Our class held a reunion party for the first time after high school graduation. College freshmen all, our ideals were high, our spirits were soaring. In the midst of talking about our own personal plans, the idea to raise funds to help high school students graduate from St. Joseph’s was born. First suggested by Augie Altarejos, the idea took flight. For someone like me, who was going through college on a scholarship, it was a grand notion, indeed.

But first, we had to raise the money to help these kids. The summer of 1983, we spent our time not just on basketball games or reading Sidney Sheldon. That summer, we held meetings at Totong Derayunan’s house, threshing out the ways and means to accumulate enough money to send other kids through high school. Raymund Perez and Bitoy Apuhin would lug a five-foot high piece of chalkboard from Gonzaga Subdivision, where I lived, to Totong’s house, so we can have something to write on during our meetings.

Finally, after days and weeks of planning, we came up with very realistic options.

First, we raised a hog, which was christened Annie Baho-tangkal by Class Jesters, Bitoy Apuhin and Tindoy Ravina, in their own inimitable way. Fed and cared for by Kamang and Tiya Patring, Totong’s ever-reliable Man and Woman Friday, Annie eventually grew big enough for the slaughter and became much needed bacon for the class bank account. Back then, as now, it was Grace Tenefrancia-Uy, who guarded over the treasure. Into the coffers, not only were deposited the proceeds from the sale of Annie, but also the income we got from “Video Magic”, a video-concert-dance-show featuring the MTVs of Olivia Newton-John, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Boy George, and other MTV stars of the 1980’s. Not to mention, of course, the series of weekend film-showings of Mel Gibson’s Mad Max movie.

In spite of these, to our mind, “grand” undertakings, it wasn’t enough to cover the number of scholars we wanted to help. So we embarked on our most ambitious project. Not very original, I might admit, but very timely in the extreme.

Christmas 1983. Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind when raising money during Christmas is to go house to house singing Christmas Carols. Even a three-year-old can come up with that idea. The unique thing about our Christmas Caroling that year was the tableau. Grace was dressed as Mama Mary in my mother’s old shawl and Andy Makilan acted out the role of St. Joseph. And from house to house, we sang the traditional Christmas carols while encircling Grace and Andy as they depicted the Nativity scene with a little doll in swaddling clothes representing the Baby Jesus.

We had our share of defeats and triumphs that November to December of 1983. Since we were all still in school, we had scheduled the rehearsals and practice sessions on the weekends. And since we wanted to make sure our funds stayed intact for its ultimate purpose, we spent our own money for our snacks and refreshments and transportation. When someone, mostly me, did not have enough money, the others would share theirs without complaint. That Christmas was one of the wettest ones we had in a long while. We trudged over streets with holes filled with muddy rainwater. We encountered loudly barking dogs that barred us from entering their masters’ homes. We even had the misfortune to get a deaf ear from the owners of a home to whom we had specifically given a solicitation letter. In his frustration, Tindoy strummed his guitar loudly and sang an Asin song, “ Masdan Mo ang Iyong Kapaligiran”, at the top of his lungs.

The funds grew bigger. Finally, we had enough to help our scholars finish at St. Joseph ’s. I can’t recall the few students we helped that year and in the years that followed. Afterwards, with the pressure of college and new peers, and the endless job searches after college graduation, our grand dream fizzled out.

Unbeknownst to us, it was Augie who continued the project. With the help of his employer (the Coca-Cola Bottlers, Inc.), he made sure that the dream came true for other students of St. Joseph ’s. This only came to light after his death in April 1995.

Ten years after his death, plans for the Class Silver Jubilee were in full swing. A year later, the Letter of Pledge came out, and Augie’s idea again took centerstage.

This time around, with the vast resources at hand, a most ambitious project came to the fore: a Raffle Draw for a House and Lot in Charito Heights .

And just as in the past, the proceeds remained intact for its final purpose: scholarships for St. Joseph ’s students, most especially for the offspring of the Class of 1982.

Away from the arena, so to speak, since I now live in Makati , I heard a lot of positive news from the home front. Still committed to making sure that the funds that were accumulated from the pledges of batchmates and proceeds from the raffle tickets will be reserved for its final purpose, the officers and members of the batch who were working hard to accomplish the goal, used their own money, from their own pockets for such mundane things as food, San Mig lites, and coffee. I heard that Johnny Go and Joselito Porras would take their cars house to house to invite other batchmates to join meetings. The gasoline charges for these sojourns, they covered themselves, and not from the class funds. And what about the time when it was our turn to host the Annual Bowling Tournament… there were times when there was not enough money to cover the fees. Who passed the hat to make up for the difference? The Officers, of course, from their own pockets! There’s Nonoy Tisoy Calmerin, Bitoy Apuhin, Joselito Porras, Johnny Go, Peter Ploteña, Luz Jimenea, Totong Derayunan, Nana Alejandro, Grace Tenefrancia and many others who never complained but dipped from their own funds to cover for what was lacking.

Our class has always relied on our own money to pay our own way in activities such as this. From the past to the present, nothing has changed as far as this tradition is concerned. Our class always makes sure there is enough for everybody. Where something is lacking, we always make up for it. That’s how we operated in the past, that’s how we operate now and rest-assured, that is how we will continue to operate in the future.

We have heard of other Batches giving us such a positive feedback for a very successful Silver Jubilee Celebration. Yet, this success would not have come about without the sacrifices our Officers have made during the course of the two years leading up to the Grand Day.

Saying “Thank you!!!” for all their hard work is not enough but I know most of them would appreciate the thought, regardless.

Because for me, hearing “Thank you!!!” from someone who sincerely appreciates what you have done, is the best gift of all.

Now that the funds have been raised, it’s time to raise the spirits of those students who will become the next scholars of the Alumni Class of 1982.

To our Officers, thank you for a job well done!!!