Story By Georgene Quilaton-Tambiga
Photos By Rachel De Gracia, CVPro
September 21, 2024—At least 109 families whose homes were razed by fire in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Philippines, received a bag of rice and canned goods from ARCORES International through Colegio de Sto. Tomas-Recoletos, Inc.’s Community Extension and Development Office (CEDO).
It can be recalled that last September 6, 2024, at 8:40 in the evening, families living on Endrina Street, Barangay V, San Carlos City lost their homes during one of the biggest residential fires in the city post-pandemic. This community is just a block away from the convent of Recoletos de San Carlos.
The community of Augustinian Recollects immediately reached out to their neighbors and gave drinking water and biscuits the morning after the tragedy. Then, groups of student-volunteers including officers of the CST-R Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) of the College Department, leaders of the Supreme Student Council and scholars under the READS program, brought basic clothing to the victims who were evacuated to the Barangay IV Gymnasium.
ARCORES for Endrina Fire Victims
Through CEDO, ARCORES International also sent immediate relief by giving bags of 14 kilos of rice and canned goods to the fire victims last September 21, 2024. Families, who are re-building their homes as of press time and slowly moving out of the evacuation center, were thankful to ARCORES and the Augustinian Recollect community because they now had moving-out-of-the evacuation-site gifts to bring to their new homes. Rev. Fr. Monday Benjamin Edobor, OAR, the CST-R vice-president for identity, formation and mission, led the operations with volunteers from the ROTC officers, READS scholars and the Thomasian staff.
This operation preceded the earlier release of Caja de Solidaria or Solidarity Boxes last September 12, 2024, that CST-R President, Rev. Fr. Cristopher C. Maspara, OAR personally led.
Each Caja de Solidaria given to the families contained hygiene and laundry kits, snack packs, rice and canned goods that Thomasians from the Junior High School donated. Meanwhile, Thomasian students and teachers from the Senior High School gave school supplies from paper to pencils and pens for the 75 school children who lost their learning materials to the fire.
