A group of five friends, five beautiful ladies, did it in this Christmas season. They made “Fly with flying colors!” charity workshop such a huge success that left people talking about it even days after the event.
The event achieved its goal of raising P100,000 from ticket sales which was donated to MovEd, a local NGO that provides early childhood care and education development programs in underprivileged communities in the Philippines. Hasbro also joined the efforts and donated 118 sets of Play-Doh worth P12,000 which made Ma. Theresa “Bukay” Urra-Lagman, Executive Director of MovEd very happy while receiving donations at the event.
On Dec 7, “Fly with flying colors!” was attended by close to 70 guests including diplomats’ families, local celebrities and Taiwanese community in an over crowded function room in Pacific Plaza Condominium, Makati. Seats were limited to 50 initially, but due to overwhelming response, the number just grew.
Guests paid P2, 500 each to enjoy a fun filled afternoon tea party of a large selection of refreshments; some were donated by people, and a program of Christmas Carol and Chinese song performance, raffle draw and a DIY tutorial. There were 35 draw prizes, with less than 70 guests, one of every two people stood a chance to win. BreadTalk donated a total of P15, 000 worth of 9 GCs, valued from P500 to P3, 500. The grand prize was China Airline return air ticket Manila-Taipei or Kaohsiung.
At the end of the event, each guest went home with a goodie bag full of shampoo, detergent and the alike donated by Simeon C. Tiu, President and CEO of Peerless.
During tutorial session, guests learned step by step how to make a birds-of-paradise bracelet with Chinese knotting cords and replica of ancient Chinese coins. It was jewelry designer Cheryl Yee’s idea to share her passion for DIY jewelry making, and she turned the session into such a fun activity that even guys at the event were happy and willing to make their own bracelets, let alone the ladies. To everyone’s surprise, all the guests finished the bracelets on their own, well, maybe with a little help from tutorial assistants. Many guests are now wearing the bracelets with pride.
Birds-of-paradise is one of Yee’s collections inspired by vibrant Philippine culture and warm, passionate and fun-loving Filipinos. The bracelet has a signature tail, like the tail feathers of a birds-of-paradise. When she completed the very first piece in her Makati home, she had already decided then she would dedicate the collection design to charity work, and help underprivileged Filipinos, especially kids in the country.
So she initiated “Fly with Flying Colors!” charity workshop with a group of four local friends who became event partners: Angela Hsu, Sotheby’s Philippine representative, helped to lay the foundation for the event. Chim Namjildorj, a PR consultant, who also manages Oriental Palace Chinese restaurant in Quezon City raised more than P25,000 by herself. Andrea Wei, wife of Winward Chu, Managing Director of BreadTalk, recommended and helped to decide the beneficiary. Yvonne Yu, wife of successful toy businessman Albert Yu, donated Play-Doh sets to MovEd.
Yee was a Taiwanese TV journalist for two decades, but left her job while based in Singapore as Southeast Asia bureau chief for China TV Company in 2012 to pursue her dream of a becoming designer. Later in 2015, she founded her own jewelry brand     “Zhen Pearl”, “Zhen” means being genuine in Chinese. Yee moved to Makati when her husband Samson Chang, Minister of TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines) was posted here in 2013.
Never before in the Philippines, could a charity event be filled with so much fun and inspirations. It has been receiving compliments from happy and contented guests for days after the event and Yee and her partners were congratulated time and again.
In this Christmas season of giving, giving is receiving, indeed.
