This marked the second anniversary of our Oceanic Ventures Shopping for Charity wine party hosted by none other than Pam Radford from Legal Media and Oceanic Ventures, Inc. Who would have ever thought of a little dive shop in Houston Texas having their name on a wall at a local school in the Philippines? Ann’s mother certainly could not have imagined it and yet that is precisely what happened in Puerta Galera where our diving friends helped us bring water and restrooms into a school, hire additional teachers, electrify the classrooms, introduce computers and computerized educational software, and beautify the grounds to make the entire school experience better for the students.
Ann started the school project to help schools and students in the areas we dive. At least that was the stated reason. The truth is Ann loves children and the has fun interacting with them and introducing them to new things (ask the little boys she taught to snorkel in the Solomon Islands). One way of doing this is to bring school supplies to local schools. She found that teachers are very appreciative and the students love meeting people from other places. Over the years, our divers have contributed paper, pencils, calculators, maps, construction paper, office supplies, books and other useful items to schools in Mexico, Little Cayman, Fiji, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Truk Lagoon, Kosrai and other diving destinations that we visit. Each one of the school visits is a special event for both the teachers and students as well as the visitors.
The school in the Philippines has been a true miracle in giving and Anne the administrator of the school has done wondrous things with the money and supplies donated. Adding water and restroom to the school did more than improve hygiene; it prneuded a method to improve the appearance of the school and introduced school pride by allowing the students to add flower gardens to the school grounds. If you visit the school, you will see students watering the plants with cans filled with the water that one of our clients paid to have brought in. But this event is more than asking for donations, it is really a way for people to experience the local cultures.
Two years ago, Ann was negotiating with the local sales ladies in the Philippines who were selling hand woven baskets. She turned to Pam and said, “I can’t say no.” Pam just looked at her and said “um, what are you going to do with all of those baskets?” Pam hen hatched the idea of an auction and she agreed to furnish the wine! Shopping for Charity was born and the first year we raised $1500 in proceeds and donations (one of our teaching staff even donated his teaching revenues to the cause). The owners of the Atlantis Resort in Puerto Galera were impressed that we were able to raise the money for their community and they agreed to match the contribution. But that was last year.
This year the resort once again agreed to match our contributions and thanks to the generous support of our clients, we raised more money than last year (we are still computing the final total). We really appreciate all of the support we have received and the beneficiaries of it all are some very special children in countries far from Houston.
Thank You!
