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Castillo Tasked to Manage Class General Fund (Full Story) |
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by Ding de Jesus
At the Ateneo 50/54 First Friday meeting August 1, the class elected Rody Castillo to be a committee of one to manage the class' General Fund. The committee will be known as the SOS Committee. The Fund was established to help any classmate in distress, to lend or provide aid to the deserving among the families living in the Ateneo 50/54 cluster of 18 houses at the Ateneo Alumni Village at GK Payatas, and for whatever other charitable endeavors the class may opt to undertake. It will be invested in a fixed-income instrument of Rody's choosing, and will be subject to oversight by the class.
The Fund is separate from regular donations given by some classmates directly to Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ for his various projects for the poor. It is the offshoot of a suggestion from Benny Ramos for the class to establish such a General Fund.
The Fund was started with Larry Gotuaco's contribution of P10000 originally meant for Gawad Kalinga but which he agreed, at Ding DeJesus' behest, to divert to the Fund. At the meeting several classmates made contributions totaling P2000, bumping the initial fund up to P12000. It was agreed that contributions to the Fund could be made periodically or in a lump sum. It was further agreed that henceforth all contributions to the fund would be anonymous; only the running total will be announced. This is in the interest of classmates not in a financial position to help, who may otherwise be embarrassed and hesitate to attend future class meetings.
It is anticipated that classmates living in the United States, who were most supportive of the class' GK Fund Drive, will come again to the fore in boosting the Fund, albeit knowing that the likelihood is that classmates living in the Philippines, not they, would be among the beneficiaries of the Fund. The bank account to which donations may be sent will be announced via email and via this website as soon as Rody is able to open it.
Present at this class meeting were: Emy Ramos, Espy Espeleta, Mel Salazar, Ding DeJesus, Tito Felizardo, Ed Olivares, Rody Castillo, Fr. Guido, Cery Abad, Jorge Lacson, and Binoy Arevalo. After the meeting at the Manila Room of the Elks Club, the group moved to the Heritage Main Dining Room for dinner and fellowship.
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