A mother was passing by Joeten-Daidai Social Hall last Saturday on her way home from buying a pair of second hand shoes for her two boys. She was thinking of buying a dress for herself, but the money that she has was not enough to buy one. That’s when she saw the Project Mom event happening at the social hall and when she saw and picked a beautiful dress for free, she was so happy that she even wants to chare the banana that she just bought in the Sabalu Market.
This was one of the wonderful experiences from many mothers who received a dress for free from the Project Mom event which was organized by the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa as part of the Mother’s Day celebration this year. “This is the first time that we have like this and this is really a gift to us, moms”, says one of the mothers.
In the past weeks, the diocese through the Commission on Marriage and Family Life organized a donation drive, asking mothers to donate a dress or two which was then distributed to other mothers who picked and selected a dress for them. The commission received hundreds of dresses from generous donors and most of them were given for free to many mothers. The few left will be donated to Karidat.
As early as 7:30 in the morning, a good number of moms were already waiting at the door of Joeten Daidai social hall to get their dress for mother’s day. The social hall suddenly became like a mini department store where dresses were organized by different sizes to make it easy for the moms to choose. Originally, the distribution of dresses was set only on Saturday, May 5th but the Commission has to extend it until the following day on Sunday to accommodate those mothers who are working.
To see the joy and excitement on the faces of the mothers was priceless knowing that this small token of appreciation has touched their hearts.
Those who generously donated their dress were also grateful for this unique way of celebrating Mother’s Day as a diocese because they felt that by sharing with other moms, they also felt blessed.
‘Mother’s sharing with mothers!’ This was the essence of Project Mom. Most of the time families celebrate Mother’s Day by giving gifts to mothers or treating them for brunch or dinner. This time around the diocese wanted to go beyond that by encouraging mothers to share with other mothers.
Some mothers came with their husbands and they already jokingly asked whether there will be a similar event for all the fathers in celebration of Father’s Day in June.
The Commission also took advantage to promote upcoming diocesan events by providing sign up sheets for the Renewal of Vows on the Diocesan Family Day in August and the Annual Group Wedding on December. The Office of Religious Education also provided sign-up sheets for the parents for the upcoming CCD and RCIA enrollment.
The members of the Commission on Marriage and Family Life are sincerely grateful to all those who have donated and have helped make Project Mom possible.
