Two Stories, One Message

September 27, 2016Leave a comment

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Offering the work of their hands

Rachel and Joseph’s passion for their careers, the heart for service, and their strong faith naturally brought them together. Through sheer dedication and love for the arts, Rachel and Joseph were able to successfully set-up their own graphic design business, Pixel Pencils. In every step of their entrepreneurial journey, they believed that God has guided them and blessed them tremendously. “We strive hard to earn money. But we strive harder to use what we earned in more meaningful ways — not because of what we have nor what we can do, but because of His will to provide everything we need,” they shared. This statement is a testament of how they offer back to the Lord all their triumphs and blessings, because for them, they are instruments from whom others could also be blessed.

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On to a New Adventure

September 21, 2016September 21, 2016Leave a comment

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Celebrating a New Adventure

It’s not everyday that we hear a story of a 20-year-old fresh graduate celebrating her birthday with a group of kids from an NGO, together with her friends and other volunteers. Raissa happily shared how she had a very eventful birthday when she spent it with the children from Mano Amiga Academy, complete with belly dancing and a whole lot of fun activities.

Even before organizing a party for the girls of Mano Amiga, Raissa has been actively volunteering in her university’s Pastoral Office, and has also been attending volunteer work during weekends through iVolunteer. And apart from joining different immersion activities, she would make sure she follows through with the project she was involved in. For Raissa, volunteering should be relevant and impactful, which then requires her to proactively monitor the progress of the activities she has attended. She has also volunteered for the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC), where she helped with the silk screen printing of eco-bags for relief goods. And since then, she has become an active volunteer in CDRC.

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Guide to iVoluntutoring: 8 Reminders for New iVoluntutors

August 31, 2016Leave a comment

Be a voluntutor

Are you new to iVoluntutoring with He Cares Foundation? Here are 8 tips for beginners like you.

Be informed. Know the venue, exact time and phone numbers of the contact persons for the tutorials. You just don’t want to miss the tutorials, don’t you?

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Jerwyn, one of our students who regularly attends the tutorials. Photo Credit: Jason Bangayan, He Cares Foundation

Be on time. Be at the venue at least 30 mins. to 1 hour before the students/ children arrive. Attend the orientation especially if it is your first time to have enough knowledge on your role as a tutor. It won’t hurt to dedicate more than an hour to tutor a kid; the experience will surely be more fulfilling.

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Project Planet – It’s Time to Put Our Planet First

August 27, 2016August 27, 2016Leave a comment

Last July 30, 2016, iVolunteer Philippines hosted a Community Meet-up (CMU) entitled Project Planet, led by guest speakers from the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) and Let’s Do it Philippines at Integreon in 6750 Ayala, Makati. The spotlight was both on the environment and us citizens, as stewards of our natural resources. The significance of building habits and participating in sustainable initiatives were key takeaways from the experts, who inspired everyone to actively play the role of a responsible custodian of our environment.

Ms. Elenida Basug of the DENR

Fast Facts

Ms. Elenida Basug of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) opened the session with a few of the most important facts on three environmental factors – air quality, water quality and solid waste. All of these are controllable, showing how our everyday activities add up, and eventually becoming very grave threats to our environment. A quick look at such information offers an overview on what immediate steps we can take as well as what habits to break, in order to lessen our own negative impact on our natural resources.

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iVolunteer Philippines wins Best Campaign of 2016 at the Philippine Rice Bowl Startup Awards

July 30, 2016July 30, 2016Leave a comment

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The very first Philippine Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2016 named iVolunteer Philippines’s Go Volunteer expo last March 5-6, 2016 as this year’s Best Campaign, which is a breakthrough award for iVolunteer.

The awarding was held at A SPACE Greenbelt, Makati, Philippines last July 15, 2016

The Philippine Rice Bowl Startup Awards

The Philippine Rice Bowl Startup Awards is the local version of the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards, which is part of a larger award-giving body–the Global Startup Awards that aim to connect startup ecosystems across different nations.

For this year, the Philippine Rice Bowl Startup Awards acknowledged exemplary entrepreneurs to further inspire more communities of start-up enthusiasts, serial entrepreneurs, and diverse mentors.

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Volunteer Management System: A Strategic Step towards Volunteer Preservation

July 23, 2016July 23, 2016Leave a comment

Jasmine Salem of iVolunteer shares a brief summary of the Volunteer Management System model, as discussed at a recent workshop last July 2, 2016.

Way back in my University days, I perceived volunteer management as merely posting an announcement for volunteer searches, filtering those volunteers as per an organization’s criteria and then, briefing those confirmed set of people.

As volunteerism evolved into a more sustainable and relevant activity, a system in developing volunteer programs is now often applied to ensure an efficient and strong volunteer involvement. And last July 2, 2016, iVolunteer Philippines led a Volunteer Management Systems (VMS) workshop in Makati together with other groups and volunteer leaders. We had Jay Neil Ancheta from Habitat for Humanity as our main resource speaker, who was with his co-facilitators, Krishna Jennifer Sonza and Nathaniel George Hipolito from Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines. With their extensive knowledge and experience, they enlightened the iVolunteer Staff and iVolunteer Partner Organizations on VMS.

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Bayanihan sa Brigada Eskwela 2016: A Diary of an Everyday Hero

June 27, 2016June 27, 2016Leave a comment

Since I started my journey with iVolunteer Philippines, it has been at the top of my mind that I will not just work for the organization, but I will also get to be hands-on in doing the work with the communities that we help. But apart from that, I also expected to meet new people, go to new places and do something that I never thought I could do. And so, our promise of being an everyday hero starts here.

Bayanihan sa Brigada Eskwela

Brigada Eskwela is an annual program of the Department of Education in preparation for the opening of classes. Last June 4, Saturday, a group of selfless volunteers, including myself, united to set an adventure in helping out teachers in setting up classrooms and creating an exciting atmosphere for the students. Our encounters and realizations exceeded our expectations and everyone experienced a one-of-a-kind bayanihan even for just a day. Continue reading →