Eyewitness to World Vision

TV/radio broadcaster and events organizer Anthony Suntay was recently an eyewitness to how the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision works in galvanizing support for its mission of providing children with a viable future.

Suntay, an avid golfer, was involved in staging the first World Vision Golf Cup at the Sta. Elena Golf Club in Laguna last April 29 and marvelled at the response of 128 parbusters who showed up to raise funds for the Washington-based evangelist relief and development agency founded in 1950 by Dr. Bob Pierce.

“It’s all about helping poor Filipino children get a shot at education,” said Suntay. “This was the first venture of World Vision into golf.  It was a good avenue to reach out to donors and at the same time, raise money through sponsorships. World Vision currently supports over 36,000 students in 43 communities across the country. It was inspiring to know there are people out there willing to support the mission and seeing golfers come together in a competitive yet friendly environment to rally for a worthy cause. I personally felt blessed to be part of it.”

The golf tournament was open to anyone, pro or amateur. “It was a day of great golf with the intention of helping World Vision’s mission,” said Suntay. “We called it World Vision Cup to highlight the organization and what it stands for. World Vision is an international non-profit organization. Hopefully, the event gave World Vision recognition and visibility.” To play, participants paid P3,500 each, inclusive of green fee, use of a golf cart, giveaways, lunch, awarding and raffle. Sta. Elena members paid P2,500. “It was a small price to pay for providing a better future for children through education,” said Suntay.

World Vision board member David Huang, interim national director Minnie Portales and associate Jun Godornes led the ceremonial tee-off. “By participating in this golf tournament, you not only played tee, you also made dreams a reality,” said Portales. The fun event brought together golfers of all ages, including 7-year-old Keon Santos who was the youngest winner. “It’s fun to win and it’s good to know that I’m helping others, too,” said Garri Nolasco who won the Class C trophy, besting over 30 adults in his category.

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Dr. Pierce, an evangelist, was a war correspondent who travelled to China with the Youth for Christ movement in 1947. That trip opened his eyes to the realities of poverty, the deprivation of educational opportunities for underprivileged children and malnutrition in forlorn communities. He established World Vision in 1950 and three years later, started the first child sponsorship program in education in Korea. With a Christian foundation, World Vision today touches the lives of over 100 million people in nearly 100 countries. It has a world-wide staff of 40,000, nearly all deployed in their home countries with specialization in a wide range of fields from hydrology to microenterprise development to public health.

World Vision has about three million donors and 500,000 child sponsors. In 2011, it reported assets of $287.8 Million and revenues of P1.056 Billion with 85 percent of the income channelled to support children, families and communities in need. While World Vision’s main focus is education for children, it has also branched out to disaster relief, hunger alleviation and poverty reduction. World Vision supports the poor and oppressed in the Lord’s name without considering religion, race, gender or ethnicity.

Suntay said the World Vision Cup wouldn’t have been possible without the backing of 10-10-10, Club Car, CS-II and Meister as hole-in-one sponsors, Sta. Elena Golf Club, Camp John Hay, Fluor, Mega Fiber, Suriya Spa and PhytoPharma and Sledgers/Olukai as hole sponsors. Major corporate sponsors were American Tourister, Jack Nicklaus, Hugo Boss, Café Puro, Harbour Centre, Glutamax, Nice Day Coffee, Jewelmer, Kipling, Ocean Potion, SuperMax, Unilever, Ecco and Crocs. Trophy sponsor was Rizgolf.

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“Our goal was to raise as much as we could with no exact target because every centavo helps in taking care of 36,000 Filipino students,” said Suntay. “World Vision is dedicated to working primarily with children to reach their full potential by addressing the causes of poverty and injustice. Education is a key component in the program to uplift the youth.”

Suntay also announced that he is giving away two VIP and five upper box tickets to the ONE Fighting Championship “Rise To Power” mixed martial arts show at the MOA Arena tomorrow. “Just tweet me at @anthonysuntay and mention why you enjoy MMA,” said Suntay. “The grand prize is two VIP tickets for the best tweet. We’ll give five upper box tickets to the next five most interesting tweets. It’s that simple.”

Suntay, who plays a variety of sports including basketball, baseball, golf and squash, hosts the radio program “Real Sports” on Francis Lumen’s station Radio High 105.9. The show’s segments air every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. “We feature interviews of sports personalities from here and abroad,” he said. “Also sports officials and event organizers. Some of the name dropables we’ve interviewed on the show are Paeng Nepomuceno, Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Huntuchova, Li Na, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Josh Smith, Efren Reyes and wrestler Batista.”