Hands On Manila: The NGO that flourishes sans ‘pork’

This meaty NGO doesn’t get funding from any lawmaker’s pork barrel, and yet it has helped hundreds of thousands since its founding 12 years ago. Since its inception in 2001, Hands On Manila has recruited some 14,000 volunteers who have contributed 67,000 service hours spread over 1,000 service projects that have uplifted the lives of Filipinos — sans pork.

It gets its funding from corporate donors here and abroad (like the Target chain in the US, for one) and its funds are accredited and audited by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) and the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA).

“We keep our records straight,” says one of its founders and first president Gianna Montinola, “We’re one of those NGOs that follow all the rules, we apply for PCNC accreditation. This whole thing that’s happening  (the Janet Napoles pork scandal) is really annoying.”

“What is very interesting about this is there is actually a body that regulates NGOs,” reveals HOM’s current president, former diplomat Junie del Mundo. “What I could not understand is how the Napoles NGOs fell outside the regulatory body. For example, in volunteerism regulation, there is PNVSCA and there is also an accreditation body that is called PCNC. They are extremely, extremely strict.”

PCNC accreditation enables NGOs like HOM to give receipts to donors, who in turn can use these receipts for tax rebates.

“There’s no donor’s tax when you donate and you can use those receipts (from an accredited NGO) for tax rebates,” points out Gianna.

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Led by “Sherpas” (after the mountaineering guides of the Himalayas), HOM volunteers rebuild, repaint and reinforce classrooms and toilets in dilapidated public schools and conduct special Math, Science, English and Civics classes for gifted public school students. HOM through its Galing Mo Kid program has graduated over 120 students in the last seven years and has an average of 90 students at any given time under the tutelage of its volunteers. The program is implemented in three pilot schools (Nueve de Febrero Elementary School in  Mandaluyong City, Plainview Elementary School in  Mandaluyong City and Pembo Elementary School in Makati City.)

In a nutshell, Gianna describes HOM. (The other founding members are Wynn Wynn Ong, Maricris Olbes, Nicole Fandiño, Dr. Rene Gayo, Sandy Romualdez, Gizela Montinola and Piki Lopez.)

“Basically it is a model from the US from an organization called HandsOn Network USA. Essentially, what it does is it provides a flexible model for volunteers. A lot of us are having a difficulty in finding ways to volunteer unless you are really affiliated with somebody. And sometimes people hesitate because for them, the relationship becomes financial. At HOM, we really want you volunteering your time. And the model was put so you can choose when to go, what cause you want to help with,” Gianna says.

Junie adds, “In the beginning, all that HOM aspired to do was to bring together volunteers and individuals who needed help the most — the disadvantaged, the marginalized, the oppressed. Yet once we lighted the spirit of volunteerism, there was no stopping it from inflaming the desire to help others.”

HOM also puts out weekly a calendar of regular volunteering activities from Monday to Sunday. There are 40 calendar projects and 170 service projects per month to choose from.

“Before, it wasn’t cool to volunteer. But now, it’s pretty cool to volunteer, plus what we have done is to make volunteerism equals Hands On Manila and now we have evolved to a different level. Right now, we have entered corporations already. We are now volunteerism consultants for corporations with Corporate Employee Volunteer programs.”

According to Junie, employees who volunteer for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are actually those who are most loyal to their company; they are those who stay.

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Lizette Cojuangco joined HOM three years ago and, like most HOM volunteers, is “inflamed’ by the spirit of volunteerism.

An HOM trustee, she heads this year’s “Servathon,” an annual day of community service among partner corporations that mobilizes hundreds of first-time and veteran volunteers to work together doing service projects simultaneously in half a day providing assistance to marginalized sectors. The Servathon  culminating activity will take place on Oct. 12 at the PICC Tent in Pasay City. Actual Servathon activities will take place at the following public schools: Arellano High School, Jacinto Zamora Elementary School, F. Ma. Guerrero Elementary School, Dr. Celedonio A. Salvador Elementary School and Pasay City West High School.

“It’s like a marathon of volunteer work. Service Marathon is what we call it. This is where we tap all the corporations and their employees to do a particular kind of volunteer work. We focus on infrastructure. We actually concentrate on painting (public school) classrooms because those are the needs of the teachers. This year, we are hoping to tap at least a thousand volunteers. We’re hoping to tap 30 groups from different corporations because each group is composed of 40 volunteers. What we do is we give them a menu based on the request of the principals in five public schools in Manila. Most of the requests are for painting classrooms, one is for the landscaping of vegetable gardens, one is for fixing the lab tables.”

Lizette says that the hardest part is usually the repair and cleaning of public school toilets, some of which have almost sub-human facilities. But well-heeled volunteers, including expats, are game to do the dirty work — literally! (Lizette calls this “extreme” volunteerism.)      

I asked Gianna, Junie and Lizette why they are very hands-on with Hands On Manila.

“When you think of giving back, in volunteerism, it’s either you give your time, talent or treasure. I don’t have treasures to give. I’d rather give my time and my talent,” says Junie.

Even with “extreme volunteerism,” Lizette believes HOM’s goals are “very doable.”

“Once the goal is very clear cut, you will know where to go,” she says.

As for Gianna, it’s seeing HOM’s efforts bear fruit through the years. “I really take great pleasure in the fact that HOM is creating a huge amount of social impact for the country. We are encouraging other people to do the same so there’s like a ripple effect. I remember in our first meeting, we said, one day, we want Hands On Manila to be synonymous with volunteerism. I think that 12 years later, with the help of Junie and everybody in the board, we’ve achieved that.”

Two of the HOM Sherpas, Chito Dela Vega and his wife Marge, who take care of the group’s breakfast feeding program for poor kids, define the HOM spirit of volunteerism succinctly: “As HOM Sherpas, we would guide volunteers through a journey and, if need be, take their pictures when they reached their ‘Everest’.”

(You may reach Hands On Manila at 843-7044, 473-7458 or 386-6521.)

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)