Giving Joy

People regularly visit the residential care home: ordinary persons, students, employees, teachers, business owners, and movie actors. Some even celebrate their birthdays in the orphanage. Most of the visitors have one thing to say: they feel light and happy whenever they are with the kids, who are amazingly full of joy and energy—the same thing I felt, when I had a close encounter with them.    

Movie actors and celebrities also visit the CJF Residential Care Home

“People who come here think that they are the ones who will give joy to the kids, since most of these children have had tough experiences in their short lives,” Ms. Delez revealed. “But ironically, the kids are the ones who give them joy. Instead of them entertaining the kids, the visitors are the ones who are entertained.”

Extra Helping Hands

Carrying out all the Foundation’s objectives requires effort and love—and a network of financial and material resources, to sustain all its projects. Hundreds of public and private companies, individuals, anonymous donors and generous benefactors, have pitched in their support and made all the programs possible. “I always find it amazing that these big companies and private individuals are the ones insisting on supporting the foundation. After many years of quiet service, help is coming in like an avalanche of blessings,” Ms. Delez says. 

Graduates 2006 beam with joy

Beneficiaries of the CJF's Educational Outreach Program

She believes that it has a lot to do with the foundation’s credibility, since they see that it really has genuine programs and project implementations, nationwide. Benefactors include the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Presidential Management Staff.

Bringing the CJF’s flagship mission, which is to “Feed, Clothe and Send to School One Million Children,” the CJF coin banks are now as ubiquitous as McDonald’s golden arches.  They can be found in business establishments, groceries, banks, schools, hospitals, in five-star hotels and first-class shopping centers. Even private individuals have adopted CJF coin banks.

The ‘Great One Million Cause’

In his “How Much is a Million?” children’s book, Steven Kellogg illustrates one million children climbing onto one another’s shoulders, creating a human tower taller than the tallest buildings, higher than the highest mountains and farther up than planes can fly. When realized, the Children’s Joy Foundation’s Great One Million Cause will be more than just an incredible feat. This great vision will be realized day by day, step by step. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the goal of a million children begins with a single child. I can already imagine each of these children climbing onto one another’s shoulders, completing a human tower that will reach the highest skies.
		David Axel Manaday, CJF Ambassador

After what turned out to be a serendipitous experience, I walked away from the CJF Residential Care Home with hope in my heart—optimistic that soon, a million Filipino children will wake up to a bright new morning, knowing they’re loved and cared for, able to give  love and joy to others.

The CJF Rondalla	The CJF savings can