Present for the check presentation to Make-A-Wish Guam and CNMI were Joephet R. Alcantara, attorney with Thompson, Thompson & Alcantara PC, board secretary for MAW; Joyce Q. Crisostomo, executive director, Cars Plus, MAW board member; Kaleena Camacho, program services manager, MAW; Eric Tydingco, CEO and president of MAW; Jay B. Jones, senior vice president of Triple J Ford; Kristine R. Lujan, vice president of marketing and public relations for Triple J Enterprises Inc. and vice chairwoman of the board of MAW; Lesley-Ann Leon Guerrero, chief experience officer at Bank of Guam, MAW board member; and Brian J. Bamba, managing director for IP&E Holdings LLC, MAW board member. Photo courtesy of Triple J Enterprises Inc.
Ford dealers in the Asia Pacific region made a one-time donation of $42,454.16 to the Make-A-Wish Guam & CNMI Chapter. The Ford dealers were from Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, American Samoa and Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
Jay B. Jones, senior vice president of Triple J Enterprises Inc. made the official presentation on Dec. 29 on behalf of the dealers, saying that children’s charities topped the list of dealer causes.
(From left) Kenji Oku, operations specialist, Naval Base Guam Center; Jadine Lujan, operations manager for the Guam area, both with the United Service Organizations in Guam; Charmaine Chiguina, assistant vice president and branch manager at Naval Station Guam, Lesley-Anne Leon Guerrero, senior vice president and chief experience officer, and Jacqueline A. Marati, senior vice president, chief communications and corporate social responsibility, all three with Bank of Guam; and Leigh Leilani Graham, area director; and Edmund Lebita, manager of the Naval Base Guam Center, both with the USO. Marati is also a member of the USO Guam Advisory Council. Photo courtesy of USO Guam
Bank of Guam has been named as an annual Bronze Sponsor of the United Service Organizations in Guam with its $7,500 donation for 2021-2022, which is the bank’s 16th year of sponsorship.
(From left) Dominic Sablan, creative director, Clutch Guam and co-founder of Guam Elite Basketball; Joe E. Ayuyu Jr., vice president, and Divina Evaristo, marketing director, both with McDonald’s of Guam and Saipan. Photo courtesy of McDonald’s of Guam
For the second year, McDonald’s of Guam is the presenting sponsor for the Guam High School Basketball Classic for more than 20 teams at private and public high schools in Guam, donating $5,000 for the event. The game schedule runs from Dec. 20 to Jan. 8, at Father Duenas Jungle, with the All-Island Games at Father Duenas Phoenix Center on March 5 for best boy and best girl players.
McDonald’s in Saipan hosted the inaugural Ronald McDonald House of Charities Golf Tournament on Dec. 11 at the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort. Other sponsors included Atkins Kroll Saipan, a Triple J Motors Bank of Saipan and United Equipment Rental.
Registered Nurse Ella Dela Cruz is shown with stuffed animals for pediatric patients donated by Taga Riders Motorcycle Club. Photo courtesy of the Commonwealth Health Corp.
The Taga Riders Motorcycle Club in the U.S. mainland donated stuffed animals and children’s books to the pediatric unit of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. George and Terry Camacho founded the Taga Riders Motorcycle Club in 1994.
The CHCC also received a donation from Toys for Tots with help from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.
Photo courtesy of the Guam Women’s Club
Members of the Guam Women’s Club are shown with the club’s donation of toys to Toys for Tots. They are (standing from left) Caroline Sablan, president; Valerie C. Blas, public relations; Donna Kloppenburg, life member; Vicky Terlaje, member; MaryLou Wheeler, recording secretary; Rosemary Clement, life member; Annie Duenas, life member; Susan Biolchino, life member; Jennifer Duffy, member; Vanessa Quinata, vice president; Cpl. Andrew King of the U.S. Marine Corps in Guam; Catherine S. Castro, president of the Guam Chamber of Commerce; May Ann Charfauros, member; Loisa Cabuhat, treasurer; Lina McDonald, life member; Leo Jordanou, life member; and Delisa Kloppenburg, member and (seated from left) Karen Carpenter, life member; Al Payne, member; Mae Cotton, life member; and Rosemarie Cruz, life member.
Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz’s 12th annual Toys for Tots campaign ran from Oct. 4 to Dec. 10, collecting 6,071 toys in Guam through donations and support received from the community, the Guam Chamber of Commerce and its member companies, The Salvation Army Guam Corps, Catholic Social Services, governmental entities, and Matson Navigation Co. More than 80 businesses and organizations supported Toys for Tots, with monetary donations and a wide range of gifts that included bicycles, sporting goods, dolls and action figures, board games and more, which were collected and sorted by Marine Corps volunteers.
The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Students of the Northern Marianas College distributed more than 1,200 toys in the Northern Mariana Islands through the seventh annual Toys for Tots program in the Northern Mariana Islands, which was supported by numerous businesses and organizations.
The U.S. Air Force dropped packages throughout the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau to more than 50 islands as part of Operation Christmas Drop, an initiative hosted and organized at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. C-130 aircrews from the U.S., Japan, and Korea airdropped food, fishing equipment, educational materials, and toys. This year is the 70th anniversary of the program, which partners with organizations like the Rotary Clubs in Guam as well as businesses. Air Force personnel and members of the business community assist in collecting and then sorting donations for the Drop.
Operation Christmas Drop has now become a non-profit in Guam, with 501(c)3 tax exempt status.
The Guam office of Environment Chemical Corp. donated 1,400 pounds of food to The Salvation Army of Guam through the company’s philanthropic program, ECC Cares.
Triple J Enterprises Inc. donated $3,800 to Make-A-Wish Guam & CNMI from donations made through the group’s employee elective payroll deduction program, which has provided three donations since the program started in April 2019.
Triple J also donated $2,500 to the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign, matching employee cash and toy donations in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Blue Bay Petroleum and Mobil Oil Guam each donated $3,000 to the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Island Girl Coffee ‘n Quenchers donated $1,000 to Guam Cancer Care as part of Giving Tuesday, and at the grand opening of its newest location in Dededo (See “Focus.”)
Make-A-Wish Guam & CNMI granted a wish to five-year old Koen, a Guam child who was granted a “wheel” themed wish. Koen received a Harley Davidson e-balance bike and other “wheel” related items. A group from the Guam Fire Department also sponsored the wish, which took place at Station 1 in Tamuning, opposite the ITC intersection.
United Airlines in Guam hosted the United Fantasy Flight at Tiyan for children from Guam’s homeless shelters through a partnership with Catholic Social Services and led by employee volunteers and with business community support. The Guam location was one of four stations in throughout the United network to do so.
Businesses and groups in Saipan took part at the end of 2021 in upgrades through the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers Public Adopt-A-Median program.
From Nov. 4 to Nov. 6, Team Chalan Piao water blasted, cleaned, and repainted the Chalan Piao Medians from the intersection at the Division of Youth Services to the Chalan Piao Mobil Gas Station.
On Nov. 8, D&Q International Distributors worked on cleaning the Sadog Tasi Intersection medians and repainted the area.
On Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, volunteers from Life In The Son Christian Fellowship water blasted and repainted the Gualo Rai medians and sidewalks that run from the church and across from the U.S. District Court.
The P.D. Hemlani Foundation Ltd. Donated six shower bedside commode chairs with padded seats and wheels to St. Dominic’s Senior Care Home.
Docomo Pacific and ISLA Inc. hosted a School Supplies Gift-away event at the Micronesia Mall, distributing more than 2,000 school supply gift bags.
For the chainwide Hilton Effect Week, the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa donated canned foods to Kusinan Kamalen Karidat to help stock the shelves of soup kitchens, shelters and food banks.
GTA hosted an employee donation drive to benefit Harvest House through donated toys and essentials such as toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, diapers and pull-ups, underwear, and socks for all sizes.
GTA also donates telecommunication services year round to Harvest House. mbj