Thursday, December 5, 2013

Doing Small Things with Great Love


One of my favorite quotes come from Mother Teresa of Calcutta…


source

When the strongest typhoon to ever hit land came to my home country the Philippines, I was expecting the worse. My fears were realized with the aftermath…

source

We were very fortunate to have our families and friends spared from the storms wrath, but we still knew we wanted  & needed to help, not just with the little monetary means we could offer but  with something more.

Living 18,000 miles away,  it wasn't easy to do something more than just send money. Again, the world of blogging and social media came to my aid…

My Chef & Blogger friend, Malou Perez-Nievera from Skip to Malou came up with the idea to use her talent in cooking to raise money for our fellow countrymen affected by the storm. She called this
"One with Tacloban".

Check out her BLOG here

Lucky to call her my friend

Of course, she needed people who were willing to host these fund-raising dinners.
She eventually had 5 total planned, and I along with our other friend , Vivian Deloso, became one of the 5 to host this dinner  at my home!

I was more than willing to share my home because hosting a dinner party was actually something 
we could do, something I could do!

So I sent the invites..


Malou planned our simple sit-down dinner Menu…



And got ready to set up the tables the day after Thanksgiving…

Green table

Red table

Gold table
Since it was the Holiday weekend, a lot of people were not around to join us, so we were only expecting less than 20 people. Despite the small number of attendees, a lot of our friends wanted to help and gave generous donations even if they could not make it.

So last November 30th, we started cooking, with Malou on the helm ….

A true happy cooking chaos in our kitchen!

The three Cooking Claus! 

Aside from the main menu above, my husband steamed a huge Flounder and I made Pumpkin chocolate mousse!

Adobo bites with Mango Slaw for appetizers ready to be served!
Since it was a sit-down dinner, the whole team including my husband and Malou's, were the servers for the entire dinner! 

Service with a smile!
The Gold and the Red table were used by the guests and the Green table became ours, mostly, since we were busy serving food or wine to our guests.




It was fun and a huge success - Food was simply marvelous and the company equally so. Overall, we collected almost $3,000 to send to the victims of the the typhoon!

We decided to give it to a non-profit  called Mu Sigma Phi Foundation, where Dr. Deloso, Vivian's husband was a member of.
That way we know our help can reach the victims DIRECTLY!
It was to be used for a clean water filtration system - something really much needed in the area.

We feel truly blessed that we were able to do this small gesture of support for our countrymen.
Indeed, Mother Teresa summed up what WE all did and came here for that night - doing our small thing with great love.

MABUHAY, God Bless & Have a Wonderful Weekend!

VEL 

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

17 comments:

  1. Vel,
    I cannot thank you and Gerson enough for opening the doors of your home and most importantly opening your hearts and minds for this project. It was a huge success because of your generosity and love. May God bless you and Gerson more... and may your house a happy dwelling place as it is now. Cheers!

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  2. Hi Vel! Oh, what a wonderful project! It looks like you all were having such a great time and the food looked delicious. So glad it turned out so successful and you raised so much money. You're a fantastic lady.
    Thanks for popping in to see me and you are certainly the sweeties,
    Shelia ;)

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  3. You did a very good deed. It is always difficult when one wants to help but is so far away from where disaster has struck. The water filtration system is a necessity and will touch many, many lives for many years. Great team work, too!

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  4. This is so wonderful! Such an awesome way to do something special for others in need.

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  5. Vel, what a beautiful thing you did for your country! What a blessing to have a home that you can open up for a night like this, to do something for others, you are such a good person and I'm so glad to know you!!

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  6. Just beautiful, Vel! Everything: your home, guests, food, and the great cause. You all are wonderful people, and this was a special way to give back. Many thanks to you all! Warm greetings, Loi

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  7. I think you and your friends did a great thing with great love. Had to be doubly meaningful timed right there at Thanksgiving, helping others is a very meaningful way to express your gratitude that friends and family were spared during the storm.

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  8. This is such a wonderful thing that you did and I love how meaningful it was to you and everyone who came, donated or participated in some way. Truly a beautiful dinner!

    xo Mary Jo
    http://MagicalMined.blogspot.com

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  9. This was so beautiful it brought me to tears. Everyone feels so helpless when something like this happens. Thank you for sharing this story. I think it was the kindest thing I have read in a long time.

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  10. Vel, this is amazing. You're the perfect hostess and your tables are beautiful. $3000 is awesome, congratulations and it really is such a wonderful thing to do to help the Philippine victims. The water filtration system is a phenomenal gift. You are such a good person Vel, I am so happy to know you. Your compassion and sincerity show in your blog and Im sure your patients all love you for it. xoxo Nancy

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  11. What an incredibly wonderful thing you ladies pulled off and everyone benefited. My good friend Christine, who is also a blogger and one that we were so lucky to visit several years ago, is also a wonderful master of Asian cooking and I so admire your cuisine.

    My heart filled with love for my incredibly generous husband when I happened to read our bank account recently and saw that he had made a sizable donation to the Red Cross to aid the crisis in the Philippines. What big hearts our loved ones have!

    Much love and a big hug. I don't pretend to understand your personal feelings of loss, but you are a lovely person and I know you are hurting. These acts of kindness are heartwarming. :)

    XO,
    Jane

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  12. Vel, you never cease to amaze me at all the wonderful things you accomplish! I can only imagine how grateful the families are who will benefit from your generous and compassionate gesture. You are an angel my friend!

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  13. Hello Pretty Kabayan,
    Great minds think alike, di ba? I been almos begging (palimos to all friends) and still gathering some cash and a best friend of mine just arrived Cebu 2 days ago and she will be checking the school of 150 children where I have adopted. Parang kaka-labanin si Mother Teresa but as her qoutes, I am just sharing my great love of our country.

    Donations was sent directly to a non-profit organisation like yours.

    Happy weekend Lady...

    Greetings,
    /CC girl

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  14. This was an amazing project. It must have been time-consuming, but everyone seemed to have fun and it must be so rewarding to be able to help your home country. I also bet the chef liked cooking in your kitchen!

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  15. The cutest elves with the biggest hearts! XOXOX

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  16. What a beautiful thing to do, Vel. You certainly put that beautiful new kitchen to good use!

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  17. Oh, Vel, that was such a wonderful thing that you did! I'm so happy that it was such a great success!

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