Last 2018 my tita told me about their church’s charity event at an orphanage in Quezon City. Early this year when my son’s 6th birthday was coming up, I was thinking about what to do for his birthday. An outing? A new kiddie activity? A salo-salo at home? A simple dinner in a restaurant? 

My husband and I weren’t able to give N a big birthday party when he turned 1 (his kuya had a Naruto-themed birthday party), pero sabi ko okay lang ’cause we’re saving up for his therapy expenses and for our family’s future goals. 🙂

Then the story of my tita about the RSCC orphanage came to my mind. This time, hindi pa rin big birthday party but it’s absolutely one for the books. We did the party planning in less than 2 weeks.

We arrived at the Reception and Study Center in Quezon City before 3 PM. We were given 2 hours to celebrate N’s party so nag-setup agad kami.

There were already balloons in the ceiling of the multipurpose hall, so I just added the Happy Birthday letter balloons to make a simple backdrop. May confetti balloons and metallic balloons din akong dinala for the kids. I bought the balloons from Shopee (check out Vivia Partyneeds — https://shp.ee/ebbdbud)

After setting up the tables (sa kanila rin yung table covers), we began with a simple introduction — why we’re there, who’s going to have a birthday, what will happen in the next few hours, etc. They were also informed that my son is a special child.

The Party Games

Stop dance, longest “happy birthday”, and Hep Hep Hooray. This part warmed my heart the most because they were all cheery and eager to win. Winners and all game participants were given special prizes and snacks. 🙂 

Thank you sa tita ko for hosting the event! 🙂

The Cake

After the party games, we moved on to the blowing of candles and singing of the Happy Birthday song.

For the cake, my first choice from Goldilocks was the Adventure Time cake pero phased out na raw. N doesn’t have a favorite cartoon character yet (maybe Pinkfong, dahil sa songs sa app), but there was no Pinkfong sa cake list. The next best thing that I could get was the Justice League Cake by Goldilocks. It’s a 10-inch round chocolate cake that comes with 30 chocolate cupcakes.

The Food

I ordered from McDonald’s (nearest branch to RSCC) one week before the event. Happy Meal packs (fried chicken, rice, french fries, and drink) were delivered to the venue. I was able to use N’s PWD ID but the discount was only applied to 1 happy meal (my son’s meal).

Thanks to my dad and to my sister sa mabilis na pag-distribute ng food. Happy Meal toys were given to the kids together with the loot bags.

For the RSCC aunties (caretakers, staff, etc.), I pre-ordered a Pancit Bilao from Acapulco Panciteria. Try their pansit, masarap pero mura lang!

The Loot Bags

After the meal, we asked them to line up for the loot bags. The Spider-Man lootbags and metallic gold twist ties were both from Party Pops, SM North. I love this newly-opened party needs shop because it’s my go-to for last-minute party preps.  

The loot bag fillers are from Shopee (I’m a Shopee girl in the shopping world LOL) — mini rubix cubes and coloring books from Budgetshoppe (buy here: https://shp.ee/3s8a5ad) and pogs from here — https://shp.ee/xbavaxv. I also threw in some candies and chocolates inside the loot bags.

Reception and Study Center for Children

The Reception and Study Center for Children in Quezon City is an orphanage under DSWD. It’s near SM North EDSA (at the back), beside Quezon City Science High School. RSCC is an institution that provides care and services to abandoned, neglected and/or surrendered children.

I visited their establishment to inquire about how our family can possibly celebrate there with the RSCC kids. If you’re planning on celebrating a special event at RSCC, take note of these:

• Select a date and a time slot for the event. They have this huge whiteboard calendar in their office that you can check for scheduled activities, etc.
• Decide on how many kids are joining your event. I asked that I want all kids 6 years old and below to join, but they said they couldn’t pull out kids from each of the “Houses” (groups or classrooms). so they recommended  2 houses (out of ? houses) with Kindergarten and Grade school kids.
• Disclose the details of the event. Since it’s a kiddie party, I told them that it will be just party games, with kainan.
• Email a letter of intent to the DSWD head and wait for the approval.

That day was definitely one of the happiest in our lives. Nakakatuwa na nakakaiyak. 🙂 I hope to do this again in the future, party or not.. My goal is to regularly donate stuff that the kids might need. If you’re interested to donate, follow their Facebook page because they regularly post the kids’ wishlist: https://www.facebook.com/ncr.dswdrsccofficial/

I want to become a philanthropist. Becoming filthy rich with a purpose sounds good to me. 🙂 But for now, I’m okay with ‘Having a purpose can make you rich’. 

There were kids na iniwan lang daw doon temporarily. Sana balikan sila. The other kids naman are for adoption. The youngest that we’ve been told na nandoon sa orphanage is x months old.

My heart breaks for these babies, but I think living in the orphanage is better than living in the streets. The fact that they showed up well-dressed and prepared for the party only means that they’re well taken cared of.

I keep telling my kids that they’re lucky they have a home. I wish the RSCC kids do realize when they grow up that they were loved, despite being separated from their loved ones.

We’ll be seeing you again soon, RSCC kids! xoxo

 

Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC)
Misamis St., Bago Bantay, Quezon City
927-4244 Tel/Fax: 926-6750

Published: 2019-09-19 15:52:59