Imelda Feeding

By the time I got to the Philippines, my family had already ordered the Jollibee, bought the Coca-Cola, and all the school supplies we would distribute to the . The only thing left for me to do was organize the school supplies which comprised of a folder, pencil, pen, eraser, sharpener, and Oreo cookies together by grade.

The day before the feeding we went to Imelda Elementary to confirm with the principal that we were on for the feeding. Imelda Elementary was next on our list of schools because my great grandfather also had donated this land for the school like he did for Matam-Is Elementary.

The principal told us that she heard that if you spend over a certain amount of pesos at Jollibee you can get the Jollibee mascot for free. It would make the kids so happy, the principal said, but if it cost extra money then don’t worry about it. The principal planned on having the whole event in their outdoor area but in the chance it rained — as was always a risk during the Philippines in November — then the students would stay in their respective classrooms and we would go to each classroom.

So we went back to Jollibee, talked to the manager and asked if this was true. Turns out we could get the Jollibee mascot for an additional 1,000 pesos or $20 but we’d also have to bring Jollibee’s “helpers” which were 3-4 other people who would help distribute the food and help Jollibee put on his costume. But it was up to us to transport them all.

Twenty extra dollars we figured was nothing so spontaneously we got the Jollibee mascot. Then we realized what if it rained? How would Jollibee dance as he’s only available for 30 min and dances for 10 of those. Would it be possible for him to dance in every classroom?

November 28, 2019 — Thanksgiving Day in the US — turned out to be a sunny day. Some of my family members left with the Jollibee to the school first and then came back to pick me and the Jollibee staff up.

We prepared the Jollibee on a long line of tables, then the staff forced me and my family to sit on chairs in front of their little stage haha. The principal and teachers started off with some kind words for us, presented me with a certificate of appreciation, then asked me to say some words. This time I was prepared.

“Good morning everyone, my name is Maya Angelica Notarte Hernandez and I’m a software engineer in the US. I am grateful for all the blessings in my life and wanted to share my blessings with you today. Hope you enjoy. Thank you.”

Short and sweet! Haha

Then the students had sang together a heartwarming and moving song complete with gestures that almost brought me and my family to tears. In the end they revealed a banner that said thank you, even though we had insisted not to do such things haha.

Then it was time for Jollibee to come out except...he wasn’t ready. The teachers tried to entertain the students by doing a pop quiz.

“What did Maya say her profession was?”

“Soft engineer,” was the answer.

Finally, Jollibee emerged. The kids were exactly as happy as the principal predicted. Jollibee did some dances to his Jollibee music and when he was finished, the teachers and students rushed to take pictures with and high five him. Jollibee then disappeared to take off his suit. The Jollibee employees would not tell us which one of them was going to be Jollibee, but we figured it was the one who was especially sweaty afterward.

Then the kids lined up by grade to get the food my family and Jollibee employees distributed and took them back to their classrooms to eat. We then went by classroom to distribute the school supplies. We even had enough leftover Jollibee for some of the students’ family members and the staff that helped us.

And like that, the second school feeding was over.

Did not go into it in detail but this feeding also was stressful behind the scenes so much that we considered not doing this again. But after the feeding and seeing how appreciative the students were we were open to doing this again in the future.

I want to thank my family members, especially my parents for preparing pretty much everything before I arrived, for all their help and the staff at Imelda Elementary and the Jollibee staff.