One hundred orphaned, abandoned, and abused children became the beneficiaries of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation's (PAGCOR) fourth day of gift-giving under its "Pamaskong Handog 2010 - 12 Days of Christmas" project.

Twenty abandoned babies and 60 street children at the Concordia Children Services (CCS) and 20 abused girls at the SERRA Center for Girls, Inc. received early Christmas presents from PAGCOR. Individual gift packs of toiletries and clothing were distributed to the children. They were also treated to a Christmas party complete with food and entertainment from actress Janna Dominguez and singer Jimmy Bondoc.

Founded in 1983, the Concordia center gives temporary and residential care to abandoned, neglected or surrendered babies. "Most of the babies in our care right now are abandoned or left in hospitals while some were surrendered by unwed mothers or single parents who cannot support them," said Concordia Executive Director Elizabeth Cases.

"We provide them food, milk, vitamins, and hospitalization. Much as we want to accommodate more babies we have to limit this because we only have meager resources to support all their needs. We rely only on donations," she added.

Part of the Concordia center's advocacy is to also care for street urban poor children aged 6 to 16 years old. "We provide them educational assistance. We also conduct tutorial and feeding programs for them," said Cases.

According to Cases, she had always thought of approaching PAGCOR to seek assistance for their beneficiaries. "I am truly grateful the help came without us asking for it. This is a great blessing for our babies and children here," she said.

PAGCOR donated to the Concordia a refrigerator, washing machine, gas stove, rechargeable lanterns, industrial fans and sacks of rice for the use of the Center's wards.

Meanwhile, the SERRA Center for Girls in Pasay City is being run by the Oblate Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer. Its main advocacy is to help sexually abused or prostituted children.

"At present, we have under our guidance 20 girls aged 13 to 18 years old. It may take time for them to move on from their painful experiences, but it is good to know there are concerned people and institutions like PAGCOR who want to help them," said Sister Nida Viovicente, SERRA Executive Director.

The center also helps increase the level of awareness among children and youth about sexual abuse, exploitation and other forms of abuse. "We regularly visit different schools and give talks about these topics in the hope that such abuses can be detected early and prevented," said Sr. Nida.

She expressed her gratitude to PAGCOR for choosing SERRA as one of its Pamaskong Handog beneficiaries. "We need the support of institutions like PAGCOR to address the needs of the girls we are caring for. The presents they received today will make them feel the essence of Christmas and the essence of giving." she added.

PAGCOR fulfilled the SERRA Center's wish for a flat television, karaoke system, DVD player, sacks of rice and grocery packs for their wards.

PAGCOR's Pamaskong Handog 2010 - 12 Days of Christmas is a nationwide gift-giving program launched on December 9. Everyday, two charitable institutions in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are visited by PAGCOR officials and employees where gifts are distributed to the beneficiaries and donations in kind are given to the institutions.

PAGCOR's AVP for Corporate Communications Maricar Bautista said this is the agency's way of sharing its blessings. "We want to reach out to as many beneficiaries as possible. Even our provincial branches are also doing their share in spreading the joy of Christmas to the needy in their respective localities," she added.

According to Bautista, the Metro Manila gift-giving activities will benefit close to 6,000 individuals while those in the provinces will have about 3,000 beneficiaries.

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