PAGCOR Community Relations and Services Department (CRSD) Senior Manager Priscilla Lo Allan (left) is assisted by Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc. (FOLPMI) President and Founder Sister Eva Fidela Maamo in handing a gift pack to a young FOLPMI beneficiary during the 5th day of the PAGCOR Pamaskong Handog gift-giving event in Parañaque City.

All she wanted for Christmas was a simple gathering for the indigent families that they serve.

But for Sr. Eva Fidela Maamo – President and Founder of the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc. (FOLPMI) -- God has a unique way of answering prayers. “God, indeed, works in mysterious ways.  We only tried to look for generous souls who could help us provide a festive Yuletide party for our indigent wards but we received a downpour of blessings,” she said.

Maamo, a surgeon by profession who committed her life to answer the call of service, was referring to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) Php 2 million grant which was turned over to FOLPMI during the fifth day of PAGCOR’s 2016 Pamaskong Handog project.

“The financial assistance that we received from PAGCOR will go a long way in our effort to provide quality healthcare to more indigent individuals,” she said.

Aside from the cash donation, PAGCOR hosted a festive Christmas party for more than 400 beneficiaries of FOLPMI. The recipients received Christmas gift packs containing noche buena items. They were likewise treated to free meals and lively entertainment from PAGCOR’s in-house artists.

Forty-seven-year-old food vendor Liezel Villegas was one of the attendees of the PAGCOR-hosted Christmas party. An active volunteer in FOLPMI’s feeding programs, Villegas was thankful that the institution that she serves was chosen as a beneficiary of the Pamaskong Handog project.

She shared that they seldom experience a grand Yuletide celebration. “Siguro po, nasanay na kaming nagsagawa ng simpleng pagdiriwang ng Kapaskuhan taun-taon kaya’t talagang kakaibang saya ang dala sa amin ng Pamaskong Handog na ito ng PAGCOR,” explained the mother of four.

A PAGCOR volunteer distributes Yuletide gift packs to the beneficiaries of the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc. during the fifth day of PAGCOR’s 2016 Pamaskong Handog project.

Being a longtime beneficiary of FOLPMI’s healthcare and livelihood programs, Villegas shares her time and talent to FOLPMI to reciprocate the kindness that it has extended to her family.

“Yung tulong pa lang ng FOLPMI ay isa nang malaking blessing na patuloy naming ipag-papasalamat, Pasko man o hindi. Kaya nagagalak kami na may mga ahensyang gaya ng PAGCOR na tumutulong at kumikilala sa mga dakilang gawain ng aming institusyon,” she added.

FOLPMI is a charitable, non-political, non-profit, non-stock organization dedicated to the total development of the poor and underprivileged in the Philippines.  It is among the 23 institutions that PAGCOR has chosen as recipients of its gift-giving program which will run until December 21, 2016.

It was the second time that FOLPMI received Christmas blessings from PAGCOR. In 2010, the state-run gaming firm also reached out to the charitable institution by fulfilling its Christmas wish list which included monobloc chairs, a 32" LCD TV, a computer set with printer and scanner, a 10 cubic feet refrigerator and 100 bedsheets for the hospital wards.

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