When you run, they can go to school
With his name affixed to many of the country’s running events, Runrio president and CEO Rio de la Cruz has organized his fair share of road races through the years.
But Tzu Chi’s Charity Run for Education, slated for July 21 at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City, is different, he says.
“First, 100 percent goes to charity,” says De la Cruz, co-organizer of the run whose proceeds will benefit the 1,700 elementary, high school and college scholars currently supported by Tzu Chi’s Educational Assistance Program.
Second, it promotes the foundation’s advocacies of upcycling and environmental protection. Its loot bags, shirts (for 1K runners) and singlets (for those joining the 3K, 5K and 10K categories) are made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), material processed from single-use plastic bottles. Each participant will also receive a reusable collapsible hydration cup made from the agricultural waste wheat straw. This hopefully puts an end to the thousands of plastic and paper cups that litter the streets postrace.
On a personal note, his involvement in the run is his way of thanking Tzu Chi for the help it has extended to his community. De la Cruz is from Marikina, a flood-prone city that has experienced Tzu Chi’s benevolence and generosity time and again through large-scale relief operations, massive cleanup drives and its Cash-for-Work program.
“Being part of this event is something that we are proud of,” he says. “Puwede namin ipagyabang na ‘Uy, kasama kami dyan at nakatulong tayo sa programa nila.’”
Mission of education
Founded in Hualien, Taiwan, in 1966 by Buddhist nun Dharma Master Cheng Yen, Tzu (“compassion”) Chi (“relief”) has chapters in 68 countries worldwide. With its broad reach, volunteers have been able to provide help to more than 136 countries.
In the Philippines, Tzu Chi was established in 1994, and began its mission of education a year later. To date, over 13,000 scholarships have been awarded to disadvantaged youth in Zamboanga, Davao, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo, Pampanga, Bicol and the National Capital Region.
A Tzu Chi scholarship covers tuition, various allowances and other essentials like rice and groceries. It also molds character through monthly Humanity classes—talks that cultivate values like unconditional service and filial piety as well as relevant topics like mental health awareness and preparing for a job interview.
“Aside from having fun in the run, you will also help not just our scholars but their families,” says Rosa So, head of Tzu Chi’s Education Committee. “After they graduate, scholars find work and help their whole family.”
So, who keeps tabs of former scholars through a database, is proud to share that many have found stable jobs in multinational companies, banks, call centers, notable colleges and universities and other reputable institutions.
Some scholars return to Tzu Chi—inspired, no doubt, by the founder’s gentle teaching. “By giving without expecting reciprocation, one’s spirit will be at ease,” said master Cheng Yen.
For former Tzu Chi scholar Cherrie Rose Ang, the goal after college was simple. “I wanted to be rich, actually, so I could help people,” she says. The eldest of two children of a single mother who sold kwek-kwek and paper bags for a living, Ang stepped up to augment the family’s income. As a working student, she was a tutor, virtual assistant and market stall vendor. She also sold breakfast to her dorm mates, and created e-learning modules for an education company.
Not just financial
Her being a Tzu Chi scholar from third year high school at Northern Rizal Yorklin School in Caloocan to all of her college years at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, where she majored in philosophy, did more than ease the family’s financial struggles. Encouraged by Tzu Chi volunteers, the shy Ang joined Tzu Chi’s youth arm and accepted opportunities to emcee the foundation’s events.
“So, it’s not just financial support,” she says. “It’s also emotional, moral and spiritual support that I got from Humanity classes, volunteer work and empowerment from the volunteers.”
When Tzu Chi was looking for people to revive its livelihood program, Ang’s name came up. “It was a chance to pay it forward,” she said, “to work with purpose, and do something good.”
After seven years with Tzu Chi, she continues to do just that. “Because of the livelihood program and the outreach programs I headed as a Tzu Chi Youth volunteer, I realized that the direction I want to take is in counseling and psychology,” she says. The OIC for Tzu Chi’s volunteer development and mission support department is finishing her master’s in clinical psychology at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. She’s also a mental health responder in two clinics.
As for her original plan to be rich, Ang is embracing a different kind of wealth. Her mother Rosalinda now runs her own sari-sari store, and her brother Ryann Christopher is a former Tzu Chi scholar who now makes good money as a communications and electrical engineer.
“If I did not come to Tzu Chi, I wouldn’t be able to see the importance of helping people,” Ang says. “And I wouldn’t be able to see that even if you don’t have money, you can still do something.” — Contributed by Joy Roxas
Register at raceroster.com/events/2024/88678/tzu-chi-charity-run.
