Condo residents gain sense of community through volunteering activities

DMCI Homes’ Riverfront Residences and Siena Park Residences recently held volunteering activities among residents in their continuing effort to build a tight-knit condominium community.

In Riverfront Residences along Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, Pasig City, residents held their third annual bloodletting activity for the benefit of patients at the Philippine Heart Center while Siena Park Residences’ homeowners in Parañaque City spread cheer among children cancer patients in Bahay Aruga in Ermita, Manila.

One of the organizers of the bloodletting activity, Annie Canoy, said that through such undertakings, they are able to not just help patients in need of blood but also get to know their fellow residents better.

“Volunteering activities and other community projects like this are very important because we live here. This is our home. I do not treat this as just my condo. I treat this as my home,” Canoy shared in an interview.

“So we try as much as possible to keep it like a home by getting to know each other more and at the same time be of help to those in need. At least I can say I know somebody from each building,” she joyously declared. 

The spirit of volunteerism among residents augured well for the community when a member of the housekeeping staff of Riverfront Residences recently met an accident and needed immediate blood transfusion, said another one of the organizers, unit owner Elmer Perez.

“We saw that there was a good effect to one of the members of the housekeeping who met an accident. We were able to get help immediately because of our tie-up with Philippine Heart Center,” Perez shared.

“We facilitated the blood-letting within the community to make it hassle-free because we know we have a lot of residents and employees who would like to donate but they do not know how,” he further explained.

A nurse by profession, Perez has been very active in leading outreach activities and medical missions in the mid-rise condominium community in his goal of cultivating a sense of volunteerism among his fellow residents.

“Instead of just giving money to charity, I realized that it would be better if I will organize a group of volunteers so more people will be influenced to help and in return create a bigger impact,” he explained.

The same spirit fueled a group of residents and staff of Siena Park Residences in West Service Road, Sun Valley, Bicutan in Parañaque City when they held an outreach recently at the “Bahay Aruga,” a halfway house for children cancer patients undergoing treatment at the Philippine General Hospital.

The group brought along a magician to entertain the children beneficiaries who mostly came from the provinces.

Boxes of chocolates, food supplies, and hygiene kits were also donated to help sustain the stay of the children and their parents in Bahay Aruga.

Siena Park Residences property manager Jonalyn Bendo said she is very proud of the dedication of the unit owners to extend assistance to people in need.

“It’s really overwhelming because usually, the initiative for an outreach project comes from the Property Management Office. In Siena Park Residences, it’s the other way around,” Bendo said.

Unit owner Jack Aguilar said he is thankful to have found a community that shares his passion for helping the underprivileged.

“It feels good to know people you share passion with. But it’s even a greater feeling to find them in the same community you are in,” Aguilar said.