Pondo ng Pinoy marks 7th year

MANILA, June 8, 2011— Pondo ng Pinoy, a pro-poor movement started by Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales in 2004, will mark its seventh anniversary on Thursday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

The Archdiocese of Manila said Rosales will mark the occasion by leading a Mass at 2 pm along with other bishops and priests as concelebrants.

Some 7,000 people are expected to attend the celebrations from 12 suffragan dioceses of the Metropolitan See of Manila, Boac (Marinduque), Calbayog (Samar), Daet (Camarines Sur), Lucena (Quezon), Naval (Biliran), Ozamis, San Carlos (Negros Occidental), San Jose (Nueva Ecija), and Nueva Segovia (Ilocos Sur).

Pondo ng Pinoy encourages people to save at least 25 centavos every day as their expression of love for the poor.

Its slogan is “Anumang maliit, basta’t malimit, ay patungong langit (A little, when given frequently, goes a long way).”

Thus the emphasis is on acts of goodness and the 25 centavos that is put in a bottle each day is the symbol of these small acts and when pooled together becomes an instrument for helping the poor.

At its celebration, seven activities will also be launched which seek to promote Pondo ng Pinoy among more people.

The activities are likewise aimed at implementing programs and projects that will lead the poor to “authentic human integral development.”

The seven activities to be launched at the anniversary celebration include an AVP titled, “Tilamsik, Mga Kwento ng Pondo ng Pinoy”; a Travelling Photo Exhibit, a Poster Making Contest with the theme “Capacity Building and Community Self-Reliance”, the Certification Program on Internal Capacity Building and Community Enhancement Initiatives; the Partnership Program with Pastoral Care for Children and the Search for the Pondo ng Pinoy Best Practices in Parishes and Schools.

The seventh project to be launched is the new Pondo ng Pinoy website, www.pondongpinoy.org.ph, which contains all information regarding the community foundation, including all programs, projects, beneficiaries and activities.

During the anniversary celebrations a Festschrift in honor of Cardinal Rosales and edited by Msgr. Gerardo Santos will also be launched. The festschrift features scholarly writings from 29 experts in Church teachings and theology.

In June last year the total collection of Pondo ng Pinoy already exceeded 200 million pesos. The amount funded a total of 1,081 projects (as of June 2010) in health, education, micro-finance, micro-enterprise and housing. (CBCPNews)