Party philanthropy

There is no doubt about it. Our generation’s f-word is “fun.” We like to party. We love the life. When it comes to this, we are guiltless. We let nothing bring us down... except, maybe, a nasty hangover.

This isn’t necessarily bad, though. Fun is the expression of this age group. From it have come the time’s biggest ideas and movements. Just because we’re out partying doesn’t mean we aren’t solving the world’s problems. In our own weird way, we probably even are.

Fete Event Architects

Enter, Czarina Ledesma and Ferdi Salvador — two society supremos with supreme social consciences. They’ve come up with a brilliant idea: an events firm for fun and fab that allows us to party for a cause. Their name: Fete Event Architects.

The proceeds of Fete events go directly to charity. “We support the Parenting Foundation, which is an NGO that focuses primarily on foster care,” the duo tells Supreme. “Foster care is providing alternative parental care for children. The vision is to have a pool of committed families who share not only their treasure, but more importantly their time, talent and  ‘TLC’ as well.”

Fete Event Architects was born in Switzerland. Czarina had worked with Ferdi on his sister’s Swiss wedding. Ferdi says, “We enjoyed working with each other so much that when we came back to Manila, we started the business.”

Czarina continues, “The sign that we knew that this job was really meant for us was when we realized that (staging events) really can support the causes that we believe in.”

Together, they say, “Eventually, with the blessings we get from doing events, we want to open a group home that can house both babies and the aged. We will keep working to create something that can support that… This is the perfect job for us. We do what we love and support what we love!”

Supreme has seen them in action. The two are responsible for some of the most unique functions the town has seen over the past few months. We’ve also seen how their humanitarianism drives them. Their dedication to their causes is awesome. While Manila is littered with events companies these days, Fete’s competitive advantage — heart — has separated them from the rest.

Crash Course

On the other hand, not far away from Fete’s Forbes Park headquarters, there was another party for a cause. Peeps from Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Asia and the Pacific and the University of the Philippines flocked to Embassy Superclub early this month. The reason: a prom-themed party called “Crash Course,” organized by Ateneo’s Association of Communication Majors, or ACOMM.

The twist: entrance fees were waived in lieu of donations for ABS-CBN Foundation’s E-Media Program. The event saw a massive collection of nearly 2,000 books and school supplies, which will be distributed to underprivileged grade school students all over the country.

“ACOMM has always had a social thrust in its projects,” says Paul Chua, the org’s production track executive. He also tells Supreme that this year’s event had the biggest turnout yet of all their parties-for-a-cause.

Charity

The Me Generation lives in a world that’s smaller than ever before. Everything is within one’s reach, so one can expect some degree of excess with this peer group.

But a smaller world also means a heightened awareness of what’s happening  — a closeness to the struggles of others.

We at Supreme see a different kind of social activism — one that’s all fun but, strangely, also relevant. Party philanthropy may be the new noise barrage or rally.

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Book a carnival for a cause! For totally guilt-free partying by Manila’s #1 party architects, e-mail Fete Event Architects at  feteeventarchitects@yahoo.com.