destiNasyon 2023: Celebrating the International Volunteer Day
iVolunteer PH posted: " Last December 2, iVolunteer held their first in-person destiNasyon at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati. This seminar was first introduced in 2020 as a virtual gathering to celebrate the International Volunteer Day and to help volunteers discov" iVolunteer Philippines
Last December 2, iVolunteer held their first in-person destiNasyon at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati. This seminar was first introduced in 2020 as a virtual gathering to celebrate the International Volunteer Day and to help volunteers discover their advocacies. Now on its fourth year, it's a milestone for iVolunteer to be able to conduct this event physically.
Attended by sponsors, NGOs, student leaders and volunteers from different parts of the Philippines (Metro Manila, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Mindanao)
destiNasyon wouldn't have been possible without the support of Phinma, one of iVolunteer's corporate sponsors and an advocate of volunteerism. To acknowledge them, Ginx Petterson, the Program Manager of Phinma Foundation, took the floor and talked about how her own volunteer story led her to work for Phinma Foundation.
Ginx Petterson, Phinma Foundation
Advocacy Talks
For this part of the program, 5 speakers coming from different NGOs and representing different advocacies were given 15 minutes to talk about their volunteer journey and their respective organizations. Unlike the virtual destiNasyon where attendees were assigned into breakout rooms based on their chosen advocacy, the attendees here were given the chance to listen to all the speakers.
Advocacy: Animal Welfare | Christian Bondoc
Christian is the Lead Volunteer of Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) and has been volunteering with them for the past 13 years. AKF is an organization that protects the welfare of animals through vet missions, adoption drives, case filings, and even disaster response for animals. Christian's contributions over the years led him to be nominated and awarded as iVolunteer's 2022 Champion for Inclusivity. Among many benefits, Christian shared how being a volunteer transformed him from a shy kid to someone who can confidently speak in front of a crowd.
Christian Bondoc, Animal Kingdom Foundation
Advocacy: Children | Daniel Benito
Daniel is the Executive Director of The Storytelling Project, an organization that was created to foster the love for reading through storytelling. Like many volunteers, he started casually volunteering when he was still studying. Eventually, he found his way into the development sector, working closely with children and empowering them through stories. During his speech, Daniel talked about the difficulties of working on ground—especially during the pandemic—and how overcoming these hardships will always be part of being volunteers.
Daniel Benito, The Storytelling Project
Advocacy: Poverty Reduction | Mark Lalaguna
Mark is the Program Director and Formation Coordinator of AJ Kalinga Foundation. He's been working with kids for the past 25 years as a teacher and youth facilitator. With pride, he shared how AJ Kalinga continuously empowers the homeless and the wounded. So far, they were able to serve more than 750,000 meals in their Kain-Ligo Program which started in 2015. One of their success stories was Randy who was once a street dweller, but now the chef in AJ Kalinga.
Mark Lalaguna, Arnold Janssen Foundation
Advocacy:Environment | Sen Roxas
Sen is the Projects and Partnerships Manager of MapaKalamidad, an organization that advocates for disaster resilience. They use the power of social media to get real time updates during typhoons and other calamities. They also conduct training programs to teach disaster preparedness. Apart from self-discovery and making an impact in society, volunteering led Sen to find love. She met her husband back in 2012 during one of her volunteering stints. Being a volunteer gave her opportunities to meet like-minded individuals who are now important parts of her life.
Sen Roxas, MapaKalamidad
Advocacy: Volunteerism | JB Tan
JB, iVolunteer's Executive Director, focused on the importance of volunteerism. While a lot of people often forget that this too can be an advocacy, making every Filipino a volunteer is what iVolunteer fights for. This organization that JB co-founded 14 years ago aims to make volunteering easier by connecting organizations to volunteers, not just through the iVolunteer website but also through different initiatives. JB reminded everyone that change starts with the right mindset, that believing in the possibility of a better Philippines is the first step towards nation-building.
JB Tan, iVolunteer
After all the advocacy talks, it was time for everyone to mingle and break into smaller groups. Attendees were asked to approach and talk to the speakers in small groups. They were instructed to transfer to a different speaker every 5 minutes so that they can talk to all the speakers and explore all the advocacies.
Small group discussions with the speakers
Afterwards, the program resumed with a heart mapping activity to help attendees introspect and process all the information they've absorbed. Some participants even shared their heart maps and stories, making the event even more interactive and inspiring. A student leader from UP Manila shared how she's already thinking of connecting with some of the speakers to further learn from them.
Judith Follero, iVolunteer's Associate Executive Director, opened the iVolunteer Champion portion by giving a brief history of this award. It started in 2020 to recognize extraordinary volunteers who exemplify iVolunteer's values. For this year, iVolunteer received more than 300 nominations and 16 nominees made it to the finalist.
Finalists of iVolunteer Champions who were able to attend live
After giving due recognition to these finalists, the 5 iVolunteer Champions were revealed:
Champion for Inclusivity: Jonell Verano, an advocate of helping inmates change for the better.
Champion for Professionalism: Joshua Carl Barcelon, an advocate of farmers' rights.
Champion for Integrity: Giovanni Perez, an advocate for children. His community takes pride in having zero non-readers.
Champion for Nationalism: Rod Charlie Delos Reyes, an advocate of taking action through volunteering towards a nation that's more accepting of personal differences.
Champion for Change Leadership: Dr. Susana Anayatin, a peace advocate. She came all the way from Mindanao to attend destiNasyon, and at 71 years old, she proudly said that this was her first volunteer-related award.
Winners of iVolunteer Champions
These new batch of iVolunteer Champions will now become part of iVolunteer's community, and hopefully, this will reinforce their respective advocacies and initiatives. Like the other iVolunteer Champions, their volunteer stories will also be shared and featured in the iVolunteer blog.
IVOLUNTREE christmas fundraising
Before officially closing the program, iVolunteer briefly highlighted their Christmas Fundraising Campaign callediVoluntree. A ceremonial turnover was conducted between Shiela Geroche of Insular Life—a corporate sponsor—and the Karinderia ni Mang Urot team—one of the 20 NGO beneficiaries of iVoluntree. In this way, the attendees were able to witness how iVolunteer connects sponsors with partner NGOs.
Indeed, volunteering can be done through the sharing of time, talent or treasures, and anyone can take part in it—both individuals and corporations.
Ceremonial turnover of Insular Life to Karinderia ni Mang Urot
After this, Bel Padlan—iVolunteer's Executive Director for Technology and Co-Founder—gave a brief update on iVoluntree and urged everyone to be treasure volunteers by donating to this campaign.
Bel Padlan, iVolunteer
To close the program, Bel mentioned that while volunteering is a journey that we take together, ultimately, our destination—our purpose—will always be personal. With that, he ended destiNasyon by thanking and encouraging everyone to keep volunteering.
Written by:Lorraine Rañoa, iVolunteer Philippines
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