Best Sunshine’s CSR brings Village Pride to Tinian

TINIAN—Going above and beyond in their commitment to beautifying our community, Best Sunshine International, Ltd.’s Corporate Social Responsibility team partnered with the Tinian Legislative Delegation and the Tinian Mayor’s Office to bring the Village Pride Project to the island.

BSI CSR executive director Rita Chong and her CSR team spent a week on Tinian, working tirelessly to rejuvenate some of the islands’ infrastructure as well as promote pride in their community.

Extending the Village Pride Project to Tinian is especially rewarding for Chong, who spent the first 10 years of her life on the tropical island. “What’s special about village pride for me is that I grew up here. My dad was assistant district administrator during the Trust Territory times. My brothers and sisters and I grew up here, and we had a wonderful time. So when this opportunity came up, I wanted to take the lead so I could give back to the community I grew up in.” Chong shared.

BSI’s CSR team accomplished a lot on Tinian. As part of their beautification efforts, CSR team members painted the fence at the Tinian Public Library and repainted the Historic Preservation Office, giving the structures a fresh look. They also made enhancements to the Tinian Basketball Court, installed a chain link fence around the entire court, applying the expertise gained through experience in fencing repair from past projects.

The team removed two old swing sets from the Children’s Park and installed them by the basketball court after repairing and repainting them. Further enhancing the court, CSR team members are making progress on two pala-palas and benches adjacent to the court.

Despite record-high temperatures, the team still managed to accomplish the projects they set out to complete. “We worked through 90-plus degree weather, but the team and I were so motivated to give back to the people of Tinian,” stated Chong.

Staying active in community events, the team provided entertainment during Tinian’s Mes Man’amko gathering which brought members of the Tinian man’amko community to their dancing feet. BSI’s CSR regularly collaborates with the CNMI’s Office on Aging in organizing activities for the man’amkos, also reaching out to the man’amko on Tinian and Rota.

CSR attended the Memorial Day ceremony on Tinian. The CSR team also donated a total of 125 wreaths, 125 flags, and five service flags and poles to the entire commonwealth.

CSR also collaborated with DPS TOPS in hosting the CNMI’s first ever Bike Rodeo, a hands-on workshop designed to teach kids how to practice bike safety. CSR provided helmets, kneepads, and elbow pads to the children who participated in the Bike Rodeo.

“Our role with the bike rodeo was to provide support. They even trained some of the CSR1 team members in bike safety and bike maintenance so that we would be able to assist if there should be like a large number of participants in future Bike Rodeos to come.” Chong mentioned.

According to Chong, CSR and TOPS will host a Bike Rodeo on Saipan on June 18.

Many members of Tinian’s community, including the island’s elected officials, joined Best Sunshine’s CSR team at Taga Beach to celebrate Village Pride.

The chairman of the Tinian Legislative Delegation, Sen. Jude Hofschneider thanked Best Sunshine on behalf of the community. “We definitely appreciate Best Sunshine extending the Village Pride Project to Tinian. This is only the beginning and we certainly appreciate what you guys did here. We’ll definitely make good use of those areas that are being taken care of this time around.”

The celebration was catered by Tinian’s very own, Sanchez Catering, while entertainment was provided by the CSR team. A few members of “The Corporates,” a band made up of BSI employees, provided live musical entertainment for the night.

The team set up a “kids’ corner” staging activities such as ring toss and shooting basketball hoops. CSR donated all the equipment and leftover prizes in the kids’ corner to the Tinian Youth Center at the end of the Village Pride celebration.

BSI’s resident employment program manager Eileen Babauta set up a station for the people of Tinian to apply and learn more about career opportunities available at BSI.

“What we’re trying to do right now is provide some outreach information to the community for those who would like to start a career in the casino industry and hospitality. We’re here to share the opportunities with Tinian,” stated Babauta.

Tinian Municipal Council chair and acting mayor Ray Cing praised Best Sunshine for excellent community outreach. “I like the standard and I’m going to emphasize that to the other leaders in Tinian— (that) this is the standard that we should be following in our community.”

Also sharing praises for Best Sunshine’s involvement in our community was Senate President Francisco Borja. “I applaud Best Sunshine for coming up with this idea and bringing this project to Tinian. Not only does it help beautify our island, but it educates our people on the importance of beautifying our island and our villages.”

Rep. Edwin Aldan shared, “It really helps bringing the spirit of community, and I thank them. I express much more thanks to them. Now it’s the community’s turn to maintain the facilities that Best Sunshine repaired while here in Tinian”.

BSI’s CSR team successfully completed Phase 1 of the Village Pride Project in Saipan earlier this year. The beautification project’s success on Saipan inspired the team to extend the project to Rota and Tinian, staying true to their goal of bringing peace and togetherness in the community, or as the people of the Marianas would say “inafamaolek and tipiyeew.