Adopt-A-Chair Project Report (Phase 1)
December 21, 2000

To all:

Just want to give you a quick, brief status on our project. I will elaborate on the "social" part of my vacation separately. This report is quite lengthy and maybe more detailed that you would like it to be. You do not have to read it in one sitting, but please make sure that you read it all. I want you to experience what we experienced. The feeling of reward was just awesome!

Reunion at Lito Hernandez' mansion in New Manila (two blocks away from the famous ERAP Boracay mansion). Present in the reunion were:

People who were "expected" to be there but did not make it were: Federico "Ato" Binuya, Felix Lumabas, Lucy del Rosario, Felix Lumabas, and Lita Vindollo. Edgardo Cordero called to say that he wanted so much to be there but had to stay home because his wife was sick. Lita Vindollo's mom was also ill and needed some care. It was in this meeting that Ethel confirmed our meeting on Monday, 11/27, with the THS principal, Mrs. Pizzaro.

A group of us went to THS to meet with Mrs. Pizzaro. The group was composed of Zeny Santos, Remy Santos, Lilia Concepcion-Lazo, Eustaquio (Jun) Gonzales, Rolly Josue, Manuel Sayo, Fred Suabillo and myself. We were gracefully greeted by Ethel Lopez. Mrs. Pizzaro was called to an emergency school district meeting and was not able to meet with us. In her stead, all the department heads gathered to listen to what we had to say.

We gave them a background on how our group got started and what our goals are. We mentioned the telephone conversation that Noel Ilagan had with Mrs. Pizzaro back in August and how we initially thought of donating some ceiling fans to alleviate the students' (and teachers') suffering from the heat. We discussed quite lengthily the pros and cons of the idea. At the same time, we brought up our observation that a lot of the fans in the library and classrooms were not working. They unanimously said that ownership of maintenance is a big problem with the ceiling fans. Some of these fans were fairly new but broke down after 6 months and have not been repaired. The cost of electricity to keep it going was also highlighted. They were not sure that if we add more ceiling fans, more money would necessarily be budgeted for the electricity.

At this juncture, majority of the head teachers suggested that a problem that is equally immediate and more practical to solve is the decaying state of their classroom chairs. Most of their chairs (made of metal and wood) are really old and worn out and are almost 'unfixable'. They also stated that they received funds from the city government last year and bought some "mono-block chairs" (made of resin/plastic with writing extension) but the money only afforded to fill a few rooms. To further convince us, they took us around and showed us the old chairs and the new ones. As we toured the classrooms and the building, we noticed that the classrooms were not really that hot, especially the 2^nd and 3^rd floor classrooms. The breeze was strong enough to blow away the hot air. We did see the sorry state of the old chairs and how some of them can be dangerous to the children.

As a group and as your representative, it did not take us long to vote and agree that replacement of the old chair was a more viable project for our group. To the joy of the head teachers, we initially committed to donate 200 chairs (to furnish 4 classrooms). Over a small bowl of Filipino-style spaghetti and Pepsi that they served us, we created a committee to take care of "canvassing" for a good supplier for the chairs. Heading the group was Remy Santos and Lilia Concepcion-Lazo and Rolly Josue as members. The head teachers informed us that they bought the initial set of chairs in 1999 for a cost of 450 pesos a piece. To the joy of the head teachers, we initially committed 200 chairs (to furnish 4 classrooms), based on this cost. Our challenge was to find someone who can provide it for a cheaper price. Remy and Lilia immediately went to work and not even 48 hours later, found someone from Bulacan who can supply us for 315 pesos per piece plus 10 pesos stenciling cost to reflect "Donated by THS Class 64/65 and Friends" at the back of the chair.

Over lunch at Mega Mall, we (Zeny, Lilia, Rosario, Remy and myself ) finalized the details. We called the supplier one more time to see if we can leverage off the fact that this is a charitable project and that we could possibly be ordering more in the future. After much discussion with the supplier, we were able to reduce the price by 2 pesos each (down to 313 pesos plus 10 pesos stenciling cost). Over merienda at the SM Food Court, and with Zeny supplying the numbers and Remy using the basic math that she learned from her mom, Mrs. Saldana, we determined that with the reduced cost, we can actually buy 300 (I repeat, 300!!!!!!!) to furnish 6 classrooms. The rest is history. Remy placed the order, Ethel previewed a sample to make sure it was what we wanted, Zeny wrote the check, I looked for someone who was willing to cash the check, etc. A lot of coordination was done by Remy (and Ethel) for the payment, stenciling, and delivery.

Remy, Lilia and myself went to Caloocan to make the payment and confirm delivery at 3:00 pm that day. We then proceeded to THS. Eustaquio "Jun" Gonzales and Ed Pingol met us. Of course, Ethel was there to coordinate it with Mrs. Pizzaro and the head teachers. We took delivery and then officially turned it over to Mrs. Pizzaro. We did take lots and lots of pictures. I will share them with you as soon as I have them developed and printed.

How I wish you were all there to witness the fruits of our labor. It was a very touching moment. Mrs. Pizzaro and the head teachers could not believe that we delivered what we promised in such a short period of time. Akala raw nila pangako lang o kaya, e sa isang taon pa mangyayari. As the chairs were being unloaded and stacked, the IV-1 class students were serenading us with "thank you' and Christmas songs, that culminated with the Torres High hymn.

My dear friends, we did it!!!!!!!

Salamat sa ating lahat ...

Once again, thanks to all you who made this happen. For your information, Lilia Concepcion-Lazo, Rosario Rubias-Josue, Remy & Dado Santos and Myrna "Loy" Tuazon also generously contributed to the project.

Zeny, our treasurer, will be doing the accounting and reporting later on. However, I just want to point out that the project is not closed yet. We still have some leftover money that can be used to purchase at least 50 chairs (to furnish 1 room). Even after our donation, THS still has 7 more rooms that will need new chairs to replace the old ones. It will be nice if we can fill this gap to the extent that we can. If you haven't donated yet and would like to do so, please send your donation to Zeny Santos. Again, any amount will help. Isang silya rito, isang silya roon, kapag pinagsama-sama, makakabuo rin ng isang classroom. Open your heart and checkbook now and make a difference.

Maligayang Pasko sa inyo at sa inyong mga mahal sa buhay !

Butch Santos