The Balikbayan Program in the Philippines was to attract overseas Filipino workers to visit the Philippines again. The word “balikbayan” refers to returning goods to the Philippines, where the Tagalog words “balik” means return and “bayan” means home country. On Mar. 9, Arcadia High School’s (AHS) Filipino Culture Club hosted their second bonding event, where many Filipino students gathered to donate, fold, and box clothes. These clothes would then be shipped to the Philippines to help children in need.
The bonding event was also supported by clubs such as Interact Club, Key Club, and Kare 4 Kids. Many of the student volunteers that came also brought clothes to help out. They helped out by setting up the area, folding clothes, and organizing the food and clothes.
Towards the end of the event, dozens of students came to donate clothes, and multiple boxes were stacked upon each other, each box having a lot of sweatshirts, pants, summer dresses, and shorts inside. These were mainly chosen because they fit the tropical and humid climates that the Philippines presents. At the start of the event, the Filipino Culture Club officers organized a bonding game, Telephone, to help everyone get to know each other better. The game is played as one person whispers a phrase or word to another person, and then that person attempts to repeat what they heard to the next person. It keeps going on until the last person repeats what they have heard. As time passed, the bonding event finished , and everyone started to fold the clothes.
“I was extremely impressed with the turnout and how nobody hesitated to help fold up each donation. Volunteers with the clubs we collaborated with walked up to me, asking where the clothes were going and were fueled with even more enthusiasm upon hearing about the cause,” said Co-President junior Rianna Marquez.
After folding the clothes, the clothes were organized into boxes where they would be shipped to the Philippines. The Filipino Culture Club also partnered with the non-profit organization 1In3Out for the packages to be shipped. Located in Orange County, California, 1In3Out has contacts in Quezon City, Philippines, which allows the Filipino Culture Club to keep in contact with the Philippines.
“This event definitely called for lots of outreach and collaboration. Fellow officers, Grace Mcloseky and Ava Shaw discovered the organization “1In3Out” last year. We were so glad to collaborate with them for balikbayan bonding a second year in a row, and we plan to do various other collaborations with them such as more donation drives and other events that promote the beauty of Filipino culture,” said Marquez.
After the event, everyone was provided with dinner from the Filipino Culture Club. They were given Filipino food, such as lumpia, pancit, and mogu mogu, allowing the event participants to be able to experience Filipino culture. After this, students were able to hang out and eat.
“I really enjoyed the Balkibayan box bonding event,” said freshman Elaine Sui. “It was a time for my friends and I to bond by playing games like Telephone and also folding clothes and preparing them to be donated to the kids in the Philippines!”
The Balikbayan box bonding event was a success, as multiple students chipped in with donations of clothes for the event. Everyone was having fun with each other while also doing good for a community that was across the world.
