On Building Dreams and Chasing Them
Experience Philippines has always been founded on dreams and ideas. It is dreams that has created what is from nothing but imagination and the question “what if?” Our Random Road Trippers (our closed, private group for those who have gone on one of our Random Road Trips) are all dreamers as well, fueled by wanderlust and always dreaming of a better world, whether it is a pre-existing vista or a world that they can create on their own. Zoe, one of our Road Trippers in our Random Road Trip to Palaui, told us about My Dream In a Shoebox, a project of Team Asia that “aims to help underprivileged kids reach for a brighter future” that started with packing 200 shoeboxes full of school supplies, and last December 2014 with a small group of some of our closest Road Trippers packed 50 boxes and brought it to Muntinlupa for distribution.
My Dream In A Shoebox, Dec 2014
A Box Office Record!
We have a lot of things to be thankful for this year. We now have over 300 Road Trippers, from just 90 in our Random Road Tripper community last year! And we’d like to believe that we’ve developed a culture of openness, acceptance, and generosity. So when we gave them a challenge to double last year’s shoeboxes, they not only answered the call, they flat out SMASHED the record with 36 people packing 518 boxes in 14 hours!
Pack Those Boxes!
An Early Christmas Gift
That in itself is a feat of marvel! But for us, the founders of Experience Philippines, that is not even the biggest reward.
The reward for us is creating a community and watch it take a life of its own
It is seeing the community grow from 30 to 300.
It is leading the group, and now taking a step back and watch as others take lead.
It is setting a goal, and watching everyone work together to achieve it together.
It is watching these people sacrifice their weekend, their sleep, and give their utmost dedication to the task at hand.
It is being humbled by the fact that nothing we have accomplished with our 40+ road trips compares to seeing all of our Road Trippers meet for the first time and create bonds of friendship.
Dedication and Sacrifice
Roll Credits!
We would like to thank everyone for helping us reach 500 boxes! Most especially,
Thank you, to one of our Travel Managers Lady Ann Canlas for stepping up to lead this project from coordinating the in-kind donations, accounting for the cash donations, sourcing and ordering of the school supplies coordinating with the foundation for the transportation of the boxes and distribution in Payatas and Boracay, creating the assembly line process.
Mikel – For picking up transporting the more than P20,000 worth of school supplies from Divisoria
Ricca and the Singles Road Trip 4 girls Hueng, Lee, Maphel, Trixie, Howie, and Ely to buy more school supplies
The Haunted Road Trippers Karen, Mike, Gene, Gibe, Jess, Roan, Randy, and Ruby for the first 90 boxes of school supplies!
Joel for an additional 15 sets of (ahem, *high-end*) school supplies
Isang and co., Lanie and co., Star, Eun and co., Eunice, and Liz for the cash/GC donations that were used to buy
And to all the volunteers that helped in turning the school supplies and empty boxes into Christmas Gifts of Dreams: Gian, Kathi, LA, Jeff, Gian, Narl, Bina, Kat, Isang, Joel, Jaytee, Debby, Susan, Esther, Hueng, Ama, Ricca, Mac, Mikel, Pasia, Soms, Sky, Mark, Star, Emman, Dave, GJ, Ely, Hari, Precious, Gzon, John, Genesis, Ralph, Karen, Gibe, and Aeron! 🙂
