For the Court's 5th regular meeting for the current Amaranthine Year, the birthday celebrants were feted by the Royal Matron and the election of the first petition to join the Order was conducted.
It was also the meeting where the new password was decoded and shared to the members present.
And as always, it concluded with the Court's usual Amaranthine fellowship.
Today, DDGRM Presciline Bugtong-Andaya and DDGRP Irineo Dones Sr. conducted a free medical and livelihood outreach for the rural families of Barangay Diaz, Umingan, Pangasinan with the subordinate Courts of the the Order of the Amaranth's District 5.
The activity was conducted in support of the Grand Court of the Philippines' program thrust on Diabetes Advocacy and Related Health Programs and Empowerment of Women which are priority activities of GRM Elspeth Deborah Gille and GRP Gilbert Gille.
Below are highlights of the outreach, in photos taken by SK Jojit Floro of Model Court 55.
Diabetes Advocacy and Related Health Programs
Number of Patients Served: 96
Number of Children Fed: 30
Empowerment for Women
Number of Women Trained: 30
Team 55 with District 5
Subordinate Courts in Attendance: 5/5
To further enhance fraternal ties with the other subordinate Courts of District V, Model Court launched its inter-Court visitation project in Pantabangan-Bonari Court No. 46.
More than that, the visits will also provide members of the Court an opportunity of further enhancing their knowledge and skills on Amaranthine ritual and floorworks by providing them references on actual execution.
Everyday from Monday to Friday, Mary Jane (Grade 7) walks an average of 10 kilometers from the Sto. Rosario National High School to her home in Ilog Baliwag to have lunch and back.
There times when she fails to return to school after lunch, because the sun is too hot, it's raining hard, or she's simply just too tired.
Princess Janine (Grade 7) and Kristine (Grade 9) walk almost the same mileage to their homes in Gen. Luna, for the same reasons, with the same consequences.
There are other names: Joanna May, Paul Ryan, John Ray, Erica, Michelle, Loraine, Pepito.
What they share in common is they belong to poor families, too poor that they can't afford to buy their lunch near the school, too poor to be able to bring a decent lunch from home.
Their biggest chance of escaping poverty is to get to school and finish it and yet, the same poverty keeps them from attending their classes.
HL Maricel Pascual teaches at the Sto. Rosario National High School.
She strongly feels that somethings should be done to help at least these 10 students, and she called for help.
The Craft heard her, and Model Lodge, Model Court, and the Munoz Bodies of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites immediately responded by pooling money to buy lunch for the students for the duration of the school year.
Thus was the story behind the "Lunch Mo, Sagot Ko" project that was launched to provide a decent lunch every school day for the rest of the school year to these students and help ensure that they stay in school.
It was a low key event, not for the usual photo ops but rather an assurance to the students that they have big brothers and sisters who feel their needs and can depend on.
For members of the Craft in attendance, it was a commitment and an opportunity for giving back to communities and people in need, and giving poor students a better chance of winning their battle against poverty and having a better future.
Taking its "Adopt-a-School" project a step further, SK Jojit Floro (PRP) who is the incumbent Master of Model Lodge No. 373 convened a meeting with Model Court [represented by the Royal Matron and HL Mary Grace Santos] and the ad hoc committee chairpersons of the Lodge's scholarship project [SK Wilfredo Pagay, PRP] and the Court's free school lunch project [SK Arnel Landingin, ARM] to discuss project implementation details.
As such, a graduate from the Lodge's adopted school in Sitio Pudyot, Baloc, Sto. Domingo who passed a qualifying test though the Alternative Learning System will be going to college at the Central Luzon State University, and 10 students from poor families of the Sto. Rosario National High School will no longer walk long distances for their lunch break.
The project will run through the whole school year of 2016-2017 and will be jointly supported by Model Lodge, Model Court, and the Munoz Bodies of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites.
