Save hearts with art – Rotarians
4:44:00 PMThe Rotary Club of Makati West (RCMW) is calling on art lovers to support their annual all-sculpture exhibit-sale dubbed “Alay Sining” to be held at The Gallery, Greenbelt 5, Makati City from November 12 to 15, 2015. Now on its eight year, Alay Sining 8’s theme is “Art with a Heart” which complements the Rotary International’s theme of “Be a Gift to the World”.
Alay Sining is a fund-raising initiative for one of RCMW’s signature projects, the Gift of Life program, which gives congenital heart disease (CHD) patients under the program with free heart surgeries.
According to RCMW President Victor “Junvee” Vital, supporting the art-for-a cause exhibit will not only mean supporting Filipino children with heart ailments but also local artists.
Both seasoned and new sculptors will be contributing pieces to the Alay Sining, and donating a portion of the sale price of their art pieces to the exhibit’s intended recipients – the CHD patients that will be given free heart surgeries under the Gift of Life program.
“If you support Alay Sining, you don’t only support children with heart ailments, but Filipino artists as well. So I say, “Start saving hearts through art,” said Vidal.
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| Rotary Club Makati West officers and members (L–R) Edsa delos Santos, Davy Lim, AP Bartolome, Alay Sining 8 chairman Paolo Delgado, Greenbelt’s Cel Gera, Ayala Malls manager Mina Domingo, RCMW president Junvee Vital, Roque Tordesillas and Patrick Dionisio are joined (center) by the beneficiaries of the Gift of Life program and their parents. |
“They are from all over the country – we have some from Palawan, Mindanao and Cebu. So, it’s really a Philippine-wide sculpture shop, and what’s really nice is that all of the artists have joined because they want to support the Club and the Gift of Life,” said Delgado.
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| Some of the participating artists of the Rotary Club of Makati’s Alay Sining 8 showcase their artworks during the exhibit’s recent presscon: (L-R) Jaime Nepomuceno, Glen Cagandahan, Benjamin Dailo, Fred Caedo, Kish Javier, Helena Alegre, Merlito Gepte, Jaime Gubaton, Milmar Onal, Ral Arrogante, and Jinggoy Salcedo. |
Explained Delgado, congenital heart disease usually forms at a very young age, and the mortality rate is not very good.
“Even if you do survive, you end up living a life with some sort of a handicap… you will not be able to engage in sports which young kids should be doing at their young age. So this fundraising that we run for the Gift of Life can really make a world of difference for the children out there,” he said.
RCMW member and former president Roque Tordesillas said that the cost of a heart surgery in a private hospital ranges from Ph800,000 to more than Php 1 million if for an open-heart surgery.
“But because of the work we have done at the Rotary over the past 11 years, we have established ties with the National Children Hospital, our main partner, which have brought down the costs because of subsidies. So that the Club only pays about P100,000 up to P200,000 especially for more complicated surgeries.
Tordesillas also lauded the Alay Sining artists calling them the “heroes” in this project.
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| Rotary Club Makati West officers and members (L–R) Edsa delos Santos, AP Bartolome, Davy Lim, Paolo Delgado, President Junvee Vital, Roque Tordesillas and Patrick Dionisio with some of the participating artists of Alay Sining 8, a fund raising project of the Club for the Gift of Life program, which provides free heart surgery to children with congenital heart defects from indigent families. |
Speaking on behalf of his co-artists, Ral Arrogante, who have been with Alay Sining since Year One, said that for them artists, doing charity completes their vocation.
Since hindi kami maka-contribute ng cash, kino-contribute namin ang aming works. Hindi din kasi magiging full ang pagka-artist namin kung wala kaming tinatawag na kawanggawa. So ‘yun lang ang maitutulong namin… ang aming mga sariling gawa (Since we cannot contribute cash, we contribute our works. We can’t fully consider ourselves as artists if we don’t do charity. Our works are the best things that we can contribute),” he said.
13 comments
This is a good cause and kudos to the people behind this initiative. A lot of people with heart problems need help and it can be very very costly so I'm sure the assistance that they would be able to give will go a long way.
ReplyDeleteOur local artists could use a little more exposure and this is a great way to do that. I hope companies will consider this as an event too.
ReplyDeleteWe need more beautiful events like this. People in the Philippines need to cleanse themselves of trivial matters :(
ReplyDeleteThis is so heartwarming. I feel so bad about just learning about this now because it could have helped if I was able to go to the exhibit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing something that I never knew existed. It's really art for a cause and meaningful purpose! Do write and share more about such stuff!
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice fund raiser for those with congenital heart disease. They really need our help financially and emotionally. It would also be nice to appreciate the masterpieces of the different artists.
ReplyDeleteArt is a valuable donation. It has the potential of gaining value with time. This event is very noble indeed.
ReplyDeleteit's heartwarming to know that artists are coming together for a good cause. we should all work together to pass the kindness on!
ReplyDeleteWow. That's a beautiful initiative. Art for He-art indeed!!!
ReplyDeleteWow this is great. i'm planning to have an outreach activity this year. i hope it will have a good outcome as well. :)
ReplyDeleteRotary Club is very familiar but I know nothing about their club. I hope that the Alay Sining Exhibit will be successful because of their good cause. That sugery is very expensive. God bless to them.
ReplyDeleteOh wow such clubs are always fun to join. I am sure you'll enjoy the collaboration.
ReplyDeleteI am really motivated to hear more stories from you! We have a rotary club in our city!
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