Jasmine flies to HK to be with mom

Jasmine Guanzon, center, receives a ceremonial check from T Galleria general manager Milan Rabold, right, and Make-A-Wish board member Eleanor Cabrera during the presentation last week at the Tom Picarro conference room inside the T Galleria office in Garapan. (Jon Perez)

When she wrote to Make-A-Wish Foundation, Jasmine Guanzon asked to have the chance to go to Hong Kong to spend some time with her mother who works there. She got more than what she wished for.

The 18-year-old left for Hong Kong last Saturday to visit her mom, whom she hasn’t seen in seven years. The last time she saw her mom, who works in Hong Kong, was in Manila in 2009.

“The airplane tickets are enough but I got more than I asked for. I got more than I deserve,” said a teary-eyed Guanzon, who wrote Make-A-Wish when she was 16 years old.

The Marianas High School senior, who is set to graduate after the school year, is suffering from papillary carcinoma—the most common form of thyroid cancer. She has been getting treatment at Medical City in the Philippines.

Guanzon is also set to go to college after graduation after getting accepted in three universities that she applied in. She said that she would go to Utah State University to take up computer science.

She received a total of $4,769 in cash and in-kind donations from T Galleria Saipan aside from a goodie bag from Make-A-Wish bag—filled with T-shirts, caps, and button pin—and a brand new Samsung Galaxy S6 from IT&E.

Her accommodation at Butterfly Hotel, plane tickets, and pocket money were also provided.

T Galleria and Make-A-Wish Foundation officials handed over their donations to Guanzon last Thursday at the Tom Picarro conference room of T Galleria in Garapan.

T Galleria employees’ donations totaled $2,267, while another $500 came from selling 50 stars at $10 each from their customers, and $500 cash and $1,000 worth of T Galleria merchandise. Their fundraising ran the whole month of December.

“T Galleria will be happy to do it again. This is something that the whole DFS family does worldwide,” said T Galleria general manager Milan Rabold.

“We have been supporting Make-A-Wish through Hyatt [Regency Saipan]. This is the first year that T Galleria made a direct donation,” added assistant GM Ben Babauta.

T Galleria promotions manager Jamika Taijeron said that they worked hard to raise the funds to grant Guanzon’s wish. “This is also the first time that we involved our customers. Most of them bought stars where they wrote good wishes to Jasmine.”

Make-A-Wish Foundation executive director Victor P. Camacho thanked T Galleria for their help anytime a kid asks a wish from them. “[T Galleria in Guam and Saipan] has been a huge partner in making sure the kids’ wishes are granted. From the management down to the employees, thank you all.

T Galleria human resources manager Esther Ada, assistant sales GM Chong Lee, and operations support manager Merida Pensader joined Rabold, Babauta and Taijeron in the presentation, while Make-A-Wish program manager Kaleena Aguon and board members Eleanor Cabrera and Kanae Quinn were the other Foundation officials.