STAR family plays bingo for poor Navotas residents

Employees of the STAR group of publications played bingo Friday and proved that losing can also become a source of happiness — especially when the proceeds of the games are used to assist 200 poor families in Isla Uling in Navotas this Christmas.

The Isla Uling families will be the beneficiaries of the "Mano po Ninong, Mano po Ninang" project of The STAR’s socio-humanitarian arm, Operation Damayan, this year.

"I lost but I still feel good. It’s not just because I enjoyed playing bingo, but also because I know I was able to help other people," STAR editorial assistant Norycel Capistrano said.

This is the first time that Operation Damayan has engaged in such a fund-raising campaign, but bingo tickets sold briskly — and most of them were bought by employees of the STAR group of publications.

Since most of these STAR employees were on duty and could not leave their posts, they brought relatives who played their cards at the social hall of the Philippine STAR offices in Port Area, Manila.

Many of the bingo players came prepared with bags of fish crackers, various snack chips and soft drinks — the bingo fund-raiser had the festive air of a large, communal picnic. Other players even brought old coins for marking their bingo cards.

The social hall was jam-packed and many bingo players had to lay their cards on the floor while some resourceful players used boxes that were stored at the social hall as tables.

Prizes included cash money, sacks of rice, mobile phones, MP3 players, groceries, a cabinet, a DVD player, a television set and a beanbag donated by Damayan donor Elvie Estavillo.

To ensure that this year’s Christmas for Isla Uling residents will be merry, Damayan will also hold a fund-raising toy fair soon at The STAR’s office lobby on Dec. 5.

Operation Damayan’s "Mano po" project began in 1996, with street children, abandoned elders and children and orphans and relatives of inmates as its first beneficiaries.