A U.S. Marine with the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines holds a baby at the Talon Talon Orphanage in Zamboanga City. In addition to the playground project, servicemembers from the JSOTF-P have donated more than PHP 50,000 worth of food and supplies and have made more than five trips this year to the Talon Talon Orphanage as part of their desire to help the local community.
Children and staff from the Talon Talon Orphanage and U.S. servicemembers celebrated the completion of a new playground donated by members of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines (JSOTF-P) here last week.
“This is a great opportunity for us to get out and do something for these children,” said Marine Lt Anthony Brich, Marine Security Element commander, who helped organize the event.
Children from the Talon Talon Orphanage and servicemembers from JSOTF-P play on some of the new playground equipment installed this week. In addition to the playground project, servicemembers from the JSOTF-P have donated more than PHP 50,000 worth of food and supplies and have made more than five trips this year to the Talon Talon Orphanage as part of their desire to help the local community.
Members of JSOTF-P have been visiting and helping with projects at the orphanage since 2002. According to Capt Craig Nakagawa, the JSOTF-P command chaplain, “We are always looking for ways to help the Talon Talon Orphanage, and other area groups, as a way of being good ambassadors, even as new people rotate in and out.”
“We’ve been wanting [new equipment] for so long,” said Jessica Augustin, the orphanage’s nurse. “I talked to the group, told them what we needed. We did not expect this much.”
Through the chaplain’s office, servicemembers collected money through various fundraising events to begin refurbishing some of the older equipment. Earlier this spring, the group received a sizeable donation from one member in particular.
“One of the Marines, who has since rotated out , personally collected and donated PHP 200,000. With that, we were able to complete the project on a grander scale than we had originally planned.” said Nakagawa. “None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our awesome JSOTF-P team members.”
Talon Talon Orphanage, at any one time, takes care of approximately 50 children who have been surrendered, abandoned or orphaned; including children with severe autism and cerebral palsy. The children come from throughout the Zamboanga Peninsula. According to Augustin, in addition to state funding, the center relies on donations to operate.
http://blogs.usembassy.gov/mindanao/2013/05/22/u-s-servicemembers-dedicate-playground-equipment/
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