Invitation to two events: Book to the Future Volunteering activity and the 2011 Mano Amiga Open Class

Help us give children a brighter future. Help us give marginalized children access to books that will feed their imagination and nourish their desire to learn. Join the Book to the Future volunteering activity on March 26, 9-11am and treat a child from Mano Amiga to a morning of storytelling, fun games and activities. Bring P200 to sponsor an Adarna book for your partner.

Interested in what the students have been up to for the past year?

Join us on March 31 or April 1, 9:30-11:30am for the Mano Amiga Open Class. Please don't forget to RSVP!

Hope to see you there!

Starbucks holds training for the Bistro 3846 staff

Starbucks Philippines organized a Customer Service Workshop for the staff of Bistro 3846, Mano Amiga's social enterprise that provides healthy lunch meals to school children. The workshop focused on honing the customer service and leadership skills of the Bistro team to help them effectively handle operational challenges and create meaningful customer experiences.

The Customer Service class is the first installment of the series of workshops under the Starbucks Shared Expertise program. Aside from Bistro 3846, three other social enterprises were chosen as participants, namely: Rags2Riches, Messy Bessy, and Homeless World Cup.

Seasoned mentors from the Starbucks Learning and Development team as well as selected Senior Baristas spearheaded the whole day workshop.

Starbucks CSR manager Zarah Perez said that the goal of the program is to equip social enterprises with costumer communication tools that will develop into valuable skills they can use in their day to day operations.

The activity ended with an interactive tour of Starbucks Jupiter where the Bistro 3846 staff had the opportunity to interview Baristas about the store's daily processes and to learn helpful insights on good client service.

For more information about Bistro 3846 visit: www.bistro3846.com

KIDS helping KIDS

The Everest Academy students recently held two fundraising events to help buy armchairs for the students of Mano Amiga Academy.

Led by the Everest 4^th graders, the girls sold delicious baked treats while the boys spent two afternoons washing cars. The students raised a combined amount of P18,000, enough to buy 21 arm chairs for the school.

During the turnover of funds, Development Director Lynn Pinugu thanked the Everest students for their generosity and hard work. “There are public school students who have to sit on sacks of rice because the class sizes are so big that the school does not have enough arm chairs for everyone. This is one of the reasons why I consider the Mano Amiga students very fortunate. The Everest community has always been actively involved in ensuring that these scholars will have an opportunity to learn in an optimal environment that would not have been possible otherwise.”

MPIC Volunteers Give Mano Amiga Teachers a Day Off

In celebration of Teachers’ Day, employees from Metropacific Investment Corp (MPIC) decided to give the Mano Amiga faculty a much deserved vacation by volunteering to be teachers for the day.

Held annually, the Mano Amiga Teachers’ Day OFF celebration gives partners and donors a chance to step into the Mano Amiga teachers’ shoes and to immerse in the school’s learning environment.

The theme for this year’s event is “Going Around the World: Exploring different cultures.” The MPIC volunteers prepared different games and performances to introduce the students to the history, traditions, and holidays of various countries. Activities include flamenco dancing, Origami making, storytelling, and trivia quizzes. The students also had the chance to sample famous dishes from Japan, China, and Spain.

“It is heartwarming to see all the hard work that MPIC employees put into making this a fun and enriching experience for the Mano Amiga students,” Mano Amiga Development Director Lynn Pinugu said. “Through this event, they have demonstrated their commitment to the community. The Mano Amiga faculty and I find their level of enthusiasm and spirit very inspiring.”