2011 Team Autoridad Xmas Bash!

The usual way of celebrating the yuletide season is through festive christmas parties. Team AUtoridad, like any other group, celebrates this annual festivity with a bang. This year, we've decided to forego of our usual christmas PARTY in liue of another EVENT.. an experience that made everyone feel the true spirit of christms - we all decided to pay it forward.

We chose to share our blessings with Ang Tahanan ni Maria - a community which houses and helps the elderly. A non profit organization based Carmona, Cavite which relies on donations and pledges for the lolo's and lola's everyday needs. The funds gathered to buy party favors, food, gifts and booze for our christmas party was instead used to buy spaghetti, sandwiches, biscuits, coffee, juice drinks and more - little things that the community had requested.

Unfortunately, not all of the members of the group could join the activity due to prior commitments and obligations but that didn't stop us from pushing through. We started the day cooking and ended it feeling filled with blessings and satisfaction :)

We figured that boiling water through coals would be economical - we are cooking tons of noodles anyway. What we didn't know was that it would take twice (if not thrice) as long :)

After everything was cooked, mixed and sliced -  time to fill up our styros.

RICHARD: The spaghetti's not for you!

Mini production line - everything's easier with a system. Someone lays down the styro packs, one places the bread, we fill it up with spaghetti, someone packs it away - we have our mini pitstop here - race to whoever packs spaghetti the fastest anyone? :)

Photo op while packing.

All set to go to TAHANAN ni Maria! We arrived at around 930AM - time for meryenda :)

Our lolos and lolas waiting for recess.

Setting up and unloading supplies from our service pickup (a.k.a boy pickup- Boom!).

After the snack packs were distributed, time to dig in!

 Ang tahanan ni Maria entertained everyone with a medley of christmas songs.

 

We were fortunate to have shared the day's activities with the Laguna Dance Group. They were able to organize a program filled with games and activities.

Stop dance with the TNM Dancers.

Time to Partey!

Pinoy Henyo with Lolo Piolo :)

The team having a part of the Christmas spaghetti - we remembered that we forgot to eat breakfast - its a good thing there were some snack packs left :)

The Laguna Dance Group took care of TNM's lunch - we decided to leave just as they were preparing the food. Sacrificing one christmas party and half a  vacation day to spend time with TNM is a good decision. Everyone felt good and fulfilled. I was asked to share a few parting words with the lolas just before we left and I thanked them for the time they've shared with us. Come to think of it, they were the ones doing us the favor. They gave us the opportunity to share and to help them out. I'm sure everyone had their own realizations towards the event but for me, it made me appreciate the family that I have and the blessings I've received this year. I ended my closing remarks with a promise of returning next christmas if they also promise to all be there (no one should be absent or MIA hehe) - to which they replied, "we are going to be here the whole year... you could visit us on valentines, your birthday, our birthday..." Indeed, the spirit of christmas should be celebrated year round and I am definitely looking forward to the group's next outreach activity! :)

YES! YOU CAN SHARE (and will surely feel good about it)!

To learn more about TAHANAN NI MARIA, please visit their page at http://www.facebook.com/tahanannimaria?sk=info


For more pictures of the event and other Team Autoridad activities, kindly drop by our FB page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Team-Autoridad/113219902032170 (you may also click on the team's logo on the left side of this page).

Thanks! :)