As Northeastern Barkada’s treasurer for this academic year, I’m responsible for our budget, communication with outside vendors such as caterers, as well as fundraising. Because of this, I was really worried about our annual charity event, Benefit Concert. Truthfully, I didn’t know if it would be successful, or if we’d even reach our goal target, which was $1000. Our eboard had decided the money would be donated to New Energy Nexus Philippines and its social enterprise partner Solar Hope which currently have an ongoing project aiming to provide off-grid indigenous communities access to clean energy, specifically with solar microgrids for their homes.
The event was a great success last year, and I’d sort of inherited my big’s legacy because he was the previous treasurer before me, so I wanted for the fundraiser to do well and live up to the past year. I didn’t want to disappoint. Their partner organization PUSO matched our donations, so including PUSO’s contribution, they’d raised $2000 last year to improve education for low-income children in the Philippines.
Our eboard worked really hard, and I was so relieved to see a great turnout for the event, all the effort our performers put into their acts, and to see people donating and supporting our community. In total, we’ve raised $1634, which is absolutely mindblowing. I felt really touched to see everyone come together in this way and generously donate. I love the Asian American community we’ve built here in Northeastern, it truly feels like we’ve got each other’s backs.
One of the performers, Aly Uy, sang Eraserheads’s With A Smile – it was a song I’d almost forgotten about from my childhood. Filipinos are big on karaoke, so hearing Aly sing it brought back memories of my dad singing the song. I could literally imagine his voice in my head. It’s a song with a really great message, so I recommend listening to it. I think it captured how reassuring and warm seeing the community come together that night made me feel. If I teared up a little, that’s no one’s business.
