by: Bobby Manzano, President & Executive Director, OSP
I am elated by the
continued outpouring of support from our partners who supported The Journey
Home.
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Kathy, Bill and I arriving in Naga aboard AirPhil Express
with 60 of our Filipino and foreign volunteers
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For instance, the
Philippine Air Lines (PAL) and its sister-company, AirPhil Express, which
ferried our volunteers to the provincial sites, is launching soon a campaign to
solicit donations of Mabuhay Miles for our future missions. Mabuhay Miles is the PAL Group’s reward
program for its frequent fliers. This
will will help us tremendously;
being in an archipelago, air fare represents a huge part of our mission cost.
Thank you PAL and AirPhil Express for helping us bring healing to Filipino
cleft children.
During
its first run, “Design a Smile” raised not only funds but also awareness for
our cause. Anne Gonzales, the managing
director of Havaianas distributor, Terry SA, went to Naga at the start of The
Journey Home to personally turn over the P1.5 million generated by the contest
and by another fund raising activity, “Sale for a Smile.” Thank you Havaianas for giving your customers
the opportunity to change lives one smile at a time.
A
few days ago, we signed a memorandum of agreement with Menarini Asia-Pacific
Holdings, a leading biopharmaceutical commercialization company in the region,
for still another cause-related marketing activity. The company will donate part of the proceeds
from the sale of its pharmaceutical products to Operation Smile. It also committed to get its employees in all
parts of the country involved in our medical missions.
Menarini
donated scar treatment ointment which we distributed to patients at our Sta.
Ana mission site during The Journey Home.
The company’s also did volunteer work in the mission site, bringing toys
and playing with the children who were awaiting surgery to ease their
anxiety. They found the experience so
fulfilling that they were already planning what they will do in the next
mission. Thank you Menarini for
adopting Operation Smile as your corporate social responsibility initiative.
Thank you, too, Operation Smile Vietnam, for putting us in touch with Menarini
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| Invida General Manager Ninia Torres with her team |
