MCHB to give away gifts to families for Christmas

Through the Ayuda Network, Best Sunshine International, Ltd. donates $4,000 for the benefit of the Division of Public Health Services-Maternal and Child Health Bureau for their gift-giving project this year. (Frauleine Villanueva-Dizon)

For Christmas this year, the Division of Public Health Service-Maternal and Child Health Bureau will be playing Santa, giving away gifts to the families that they serve.

As part of their monthly meeting with the families yesterday, the bureau had a gift-wrapping session where they wrapped about 300 toys that will be given away.

“For our Christmas party this year, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau under the Division of Public Health Services, in partnership with Ayuda Network, wanted to donate gifts to children with special health care needs and those that are unfortunate,” said bureau administrator TaAnn Kabua.

Kabua said they already handed out about 40 toys to some families during their morning session yesterday. They will be distributing the rest of the gifts through their visits on Dec. 7.

The bureau serves around 400 families on average per year. The gifts are for children ages zero to 18. “This is the first time that we do this and we plan to do this every year,” Kabua said.

Best Sunshine International, Ltd. staff helped with the gift-wrapping yesterday and presented a ceremonial check worth $4,000 for Ayuda Network.

“In partnership with Ayuda Network, we were able to get a donation from Best Sunshine as our major sponsor, as well as from Mariana Resort, Saipan Shipping, and Joeten Superstore,” Kabua said.

According to BSI director for corporate social responsibility Geri Dela Cruz, the request for donation came from Ayuda Network.

“The mere mention of giving back and assisting in making a child’s Christmas better than it was, of course we jumped on it,” said Dela Cruz. “Especially after the storm hit us, a lot of families are still suffering and trying to recover and the last thing on their list could be a gift for their child. With this opportunity, we partnered with the Ayuda Network to assist Maternal Child Health Bureau in their project of giving gifts in their home visiting program.”

Kabua said this is a positive partnership with Best Sunshine for the benefit of families.

“We are very fortunate that they wanted to help us with this initiative because we have millions of families across the nation that are in need right now and in the CNMI we have about 500. I’m glad that Best Sunshine was able to help us give them some gift throughout the holidays,” Kabua said.