Start December with this community initiative at Escolta

There’s a certain self-absorption in the topics we tend to focus on when talking about the holiday rush: the traffic; the pressure to find the right gifts, wrap them up, and send them off to their recipients on time; the amount of weight we’d inevitably gain; and the crushing realization that a lot of us will be ringing in the new year still sad and alone.

Maybe we should try to switch things up by looking beyond our little bubbles, given that Christmas is all about giving and the first day of December already presents us with an opportunity.

On Saturday, December 1, 2018, the HUB Make Lab, in partnership with The Heritage Collective and Loving Street Children PH-Asia, is introducing HUB Help Out Day, a program intended to engage with the street children and families of Escolta.

On that day, the HUB Make Lab space will be transformed into a one-stop shop for 20 selected street kids and their parents or guardians, who will get to enjoy a variety of services, skill exchanges, and activities: haircuts, drawing, reading, and writing workshops, and more.

As one of the ways that HUB Make Lab continually interacts with the multi-layered Escolta community it is part of, the HUB Help Out Day follows the tradition HUB Make Lab’s previous and ongoing engagement projects programs: Everyday Escolta (neighborhood engagement), ECOlta Fair (beginning a eco-sustainable lifestyle), Makers Open House (championing the maker spirit), and FUB Hangout (the building’s anniversary celebration and one-day test lab for pedestrianized streets).

Those who are interested to participate in this initiative can donate any of the following items needed by the Escolta community before December 1:

1. 20 sets of school supplies (pencil, paper, etc.)
2. 20 sets of children’s clothes (10 sets for boys and 10 sets for girls)
3. 20 hygiene kits (soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, comb)
5. Art materials (sketchbook, crayons, watercolors, paint, Brushes etc.)
6. 30 sets of clothing for adults (unisex shirts and shorts). Secondhand clothing must still be in great condition so that the beneficiaries can wear them with dignity.

Donations can be dropped off at the HUB Make Lab hive at the First United Building in Escolta.