Mother’s Day Special
June 22, 2005
This is FOSNI’s first-ever attempt at this kind of event-organization. Washing the dinner-plates by hand was only one of the aspects of this fundraiser we had not really prepared for. For FOSNI, it was an education we would not soon forget. The happy, albeit, wearied faces of all performers and organizers at the end of the evening were our mutual reward for an event well-worth cherishing.
One of the major reasons for this website was “born” from one of the lessons learned at this Dinner Show. Surely, we at FOSNI thought, there are other fledgling nonprofits out there who might benefit from errors of assumption and judgment we have made from the start. Thus, one of our intentions in sharing this site is to provide an honest rendition of our experiences. We believe that what one might have “painfully” experienced, in the course of some small, or large, service for others, another might avoid altogether.
Consider this site testimony. Witness. Comparison. Example.
Resource.
Surf inside our minds and hearts, at your leisure. Share your own experiences, if you will. Do your own part; as you see it, and as you must. Help someone cross the street somewhere. Open the door for a random stranger. Give some mother a bouquet of flowers, irregardless of the occassion. Take time to feed some child and give him a wee bit more room to grow, in spite of your hurry. Like someone wiser once said, love is the only thing that multiplies, the more you give it away. The more you give of it, the bigger the possibility of it coming back to you a thousandfold.
SPOT Concert - July 2004
June 22, 2005
The first-ever fundraising concert-show that FOSNI staff participated in was the July 2004 “Singing Priests of Tagbilaran“, or SPOT concert, at the Columbus Hall of Emmanuel Parish Church. Delray Beach was just one leg of their tour. The priests were in the United States to raise funds for use as a start-up for a Health Insurance coverage program for priests in Bohol., Philippines. Despite the fact that the concert-date was preceded by two Florida hurricanes, and electricity had only came back that same morning, the show did go on.
Standing from left are Rev. Joseph Skelton, Rev. Arnold Zamora, Rev. Irvin Garzota, Mr. Joseph Namoc, an unidentified sponsor, Rev. Justino Estoque, and Rev. Jeffrey Malanog.
Sitting down, from the left: Rev. Bonifacio Espeleta, Rev. Gaudioso Zamora, Rev. Rex Familar, and Rev. Melquisedec Monreal.
All of the above, except for Rev. G. Zamora, who serves as CCD Director of Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida, and Rev. Familar, who is one of the serving priests in St. Joseph Parish, Orlando, Florida, and the unidentified sponsor from Orlando, consist of the SPOT performers. This picture was taken right after the SPOT concert at Emmanuel Parish.
Mark that we have chosen to post a picture of an event our staff participated in almost a year before the actual formation of FOSNI. Back then, we were just members of the Filipino community calling Emmanuel Parish our religious home. We have not divorced ourselves from this community; we have merely, and quietly — and with the greatest of hopes — started a “structure” that will only be filled out by the inclusion of others “drifting” into unstinting service. Whether we achieve anything meaningful from this first step still remains unclear. All of us intend to persevere, in the gentlest of manners, and with God’s encompassing grace.
Permit us to say, now, that a year ago — some concerts ago, a few hurricanes ago — this particular presentation, and the travails that went into achieving its purposes, was where it all started for us.
2005 Calendar of Activities
June 19, 2005
CONCERTS:
2005
1. APRIL 16, 2005: YESTERDAY. TODAY & FOREVER
A tribute to Pope John Paul II. Beneficiary was the Emmanuel building fund.
2. MAY 7, 2005: MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL.
A black-tie dinner show. Guests and donors came from the Filipino
community of Palm Beach County. Beneficiary was the Bantay Bata 163
program of ABS-CBN.
3. JUNE 25, 2005: A Little Night of Music - Dinner Show
Semi-formal gathering. Guests and donors were Emmanuel Church
parishioners. All proceeds went to the Church-building fund of Emmanuel
Catholic Church.
4. AUG. 27, 2005: “FAVOURITE THINGS - A Tribute to Broadway”
5. NOV. 19, 2005: Emmanuel Men’s Choir Concert.
6. DEC. 18 @ 3PM (Theme to be set up)
2004
1. SPOTLIGHT CONCERT AT EMMANUEL July 2004
To help start up the Health Plan for priests of the Diocese of Tagbilaran,
Bohol & the renovation of the Catholic church in Maslog, Samar. This was a
collaboration of the whole Filipino Community at Emmanuel Parish.
2. DEC. 19, 2004 DINGGIN CONCERT FOR typhoon victims IN QUEZON.
Conceptualized by William Manubag, organized by FOSNI, in collaboration with Couples for Christ of Palm Beach County, Emmanuel Parish, and the DINGGIN Choral Group.