Last Saturday June 27 we hosted ‘Art Attack: A Sneaker project with Converse’ with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. The event saw Coffee Bean bringing 30 of their customer volunteers from Cebu to help 30 of our rescued street children personalize and design their own brand new pair of sneakers donated by Converse.
It was a big day for everyone. MiA’s staff put in all their effort for the event, and of course, the 30 children drawn from the Boys Home, Girls Home, Drop-In Centre and Schooling Program were very excited.
When the volunteers arrived it all started with them being paired up with a child, and then getting to know each other. The children shared what their talents were and what their dreams and aspirations for growing up are, and really bonded with their buddy volunteers.
All the volunteers and kids then split into groups for the game. In each group there were 5 children and their big brother/sister volunteer. The competitive spirit was high, and eventually ‘Team Bang’ (as they named themselves) were the winners, with the kids on that team being rewarded with a new set of school books and stationery.
And then, it was the part everyone was waiting for – the distribution of a brand new pair of sneakers, generously donated by Converse, for each child. You could really see it in the kids’ faces – the happiness at being given such an amazing gift!
