What an amazing grace! 奇妙！恩典！

(點這裡看中文全文)

After almost five-month of mental and emotional exhaustion, I finally get to write about "Flying with flying colors! charity workshop" on Dec. 7, 2016 which I created, organized and did it with much pride together with four amazing partners-cum-dear good friends, Angela Hsu, Chim Namjildorj, Andrea Wei and Yvonne Yu. Thank you all so much! It turned out to be a huge success, and was worth every effort. :) :)

The amazing grace started when I miraculously won a MNL-TPE return air ticket on Oct. 7, 2016. It was the exact gift I longed for and secretly prayed for. Never in my life had I ever won any raffle draw prize, not even the smallest. I was totally overwhelmed by the pleasant yet unbelievable surprise because I was undecided, at that time, on the idea of a charity event and thought it would only be made possible if there were a grand raffle draw prize such as return air ticket. Then I had it! So the journey began.

Almost everyone I knew offered help in some way. Church choir led by Rebecca Lu volunteered to sing Christmas carol, Jenny Yuan agreed to sing solo, draw prizes poured in (thanks to Rea Co, Benny Chen of Performance Travel & Tours, Jeron Travel, TECO minister Samson Chang, Hasbro, Jewel, Angela Lo, Evelyn Chen and Winward Chu of BreadTalk), Rebecca Lu and Mei-Ling Wu made food donations, Simeon Tiu, president & CEO of Peerless was so kind and generous to sponsor goodie bags for everyone, Angeles Power, Inc donated P17,500, TECO ambassador Mr. and Mrs. Gary Lin donated P5,000, Jona Villanueva in Australia made a donation of USD50 online, and local celebrities like Teresita Choa made donations too.

On the event day, more people volunteered to be cashiers, ushers, MC, DIY tutorial assistants, draw assistants and even helped ironing table cloth at the last minute.

It was a fun and heartwarming afternoon tea party of endless laughter and fellowship. Everyone enjoyed live musical performance, a splendid array of sumptuous food, plenty raffle draw prizes for almost everyone, hefty goodie bags and DIY tutorial on how to make a Zhen Pearl signature Birds-of-Paradise bracelet. 

More than 70 people attended and helped, it was an event exceeded everyone's expectation. We not only achieved the goal of raising P100,000, but also donated 118 sets of Play-Doh worth P12,000 sponsored by Hasbro to the beneficiary MovEd, Philippine NGO which provides early childhood care and education programs for underprivileged communities. I must also mention Tereaa Chu whom I met for the first time after the event had ended, when she learned about what we did, Chu insisted on donating NT$8,000 for the good cause. 

So now, please accept my sincere apologies for the belated note of gratitude that I am eternally grateful and forever indebted to each and everyone who participated or helped, and special thanks again to four event partners: Sotheby's Philippine representative Angela Hsu, Chim Namjildorj who single-handedly raised more than P25,000, Andrea Wei and her husband Winward Chu, BreadTalk managing director who donated P15,000 worth of gift vouchers for raffle draw, Yvonne Yu and her husband Albert Yu of Hasbro who donated Play-Doh sets.

Also many, many thanks to GOH and Business Mirror Publisher Anthony Cabangon; media representatives (in alphabetical order): Business Mirror editor-in-chief Jun Vallecera, associate editor Max V. de Leon and Envoys & Expats editor Rodel Alzona, Manila Standard desk editor, Manila Times reporter Iza Iglesias, People's Journal columnist Angelo Tugado, Taiwan CNA correspondent Emerson Lin, Taiwan Macroview TV correspondent Samson Ong; TECO officers Jerry Chuang, Peter Pan, Elaine Ramirez; multilingual and beautiful MC Mei-Ling Wu, dedicated choir members Evelyn Chen, Rebecca Lu, Jenny Yuan, Angela Lo, Mei-Juan Wang, Ya-Hong Chen, Su-Chin Yang; caterer Ron of Ark and Pacific Plaza Condominium where the event was held. News Link

Thank you everyone! We did it! XOXO Let's do it again soon!

In closing, let me share with you the message from a contended event guest who is friend of a friend and a guy feeling proud to be part of it:

“Cheryl,
I just want to congratulate you again on such a wonderful job! You made the event super fun, and best of all, it was a roaring success for the kids who will be able to go to school because of your generosity.

Thank you for having me as a small part of the event. It easily was the highlight of my day.

Perhaps we meet again in the future. In the meantime, take care and be well. I will wear your bracelet with pride (in fact, I am already wearing it now).”

奇妙！恩典！

 “飛揚神彩！慈善工作坊”由我發起、策劃，2016年12月7日圓滿落幕後，將近五個月沉潛，心，終於靜下來，終於可以提筆，將無盡的感恩和喜悅化做文字。特別感恩四位好夥伴、好閨密，因為有她們義無反顧、一路相挺陪伴，終於完成這次不可能的任務，她們是 Angela Hsu, Chim Namjildorj, Andrea Wei 和 Yvonne Yu。因為有她們，活動才如此順利成功，一切努力都是值得的，感恩！再感恩！:) :)

奇妙的恩典揭開序幕！起初，辦活動、做公益只是一個心所嚮往、卻猶豫不決的念頭，暗想如果有足夠的摸彩獎項、頭獎馬尼拉-台北來回機票，會比較有號召力，活動才有可能辦成。沒想到2016年10月7日，應邀出席一場盛大晚宴，摸彩時，我竟然抽中夢寐以求的那張 ~ 馬尼拉-台北來回機票，仿彿天註定，回想過去從來沒有抽中任何摸彩獎品，情緒起伏從不敢相信到感動落淚，當場下了決心：不論眼前任何阻礙和困難，這場公益活動，我，辦定了！

周圍認識的每個人幾乎都主動幫忙。呂欣蓉指揮的教會唱詩班自告奮勇準備獻唱耶誕歌，袁麗薇也同意獨唱，接著，贊助的摸彩獎品不斷湧入 (感謝 Rea Co、全通旅行社Benny Chen、 捷龍旅行社、駐菲律賓代表處張泰來公使、 Hasbro、吳疏林、羅惠琪 、陳王幼琳和BreadTalk朱恆輝)，呂欣蓉和吳美齡捐餐點，Peerless 總裁Simeon Tiu 大方地為每個人準備伴手禮，Angeles Power, Inc捐款菲幣一萬七千五百披索，駐菲律賓大使林松煥夫婦捐款菲幣五千披索，澳洲的Jona Villanueva在我們網站捐款五十美元，還有當地名流Teresita Choa等人慷慨解囊。

活動當天更有一票朋友熱心幫忙，擔任司儀、接待、出納、摸彩助理、手作教學小老師，甚至最後一分鐘還在趕著燙桌布。

節目安排有趣又溫馨，就像一場好友相聚的下午茶會，現場聆聽優美的歌聲、享受美味豐盛的餐點、摸彩獎品多到幾乎是人人有獎，當然還有人手一大袋的伴手禮和DIY手作教學 “真珍珠”品牌的經典「天堂鳥」手環。

出席活動的來賓和志工70多人，超過場地最大容量，氣氛嗨到不行！結果不但成功達到募款目標菲幣十萬披索，還意外增加118組創意黏土，當場捐給慈善機構 MovEd ( 菲律賓非營利民間組織)，做為關懷並提供貧困地區兒童學前教育基金。更令人感動的是朱秀明女士，她在活動結束後和我偶遇，雖然她錯過了活動，仍然堅持捐出台幣八千元做公益。

現在，請讓我以無比誠摯的心、獻上遲來的感恩，感謝所有人的支持、付出和熱心參與，再次特別感謝四位活動夥伴：蘇富比拍賣公司菲律賓代表Angela Hsu、Chim Namjildorj獨自募款至少菲幣二萬五千披索、Andrea Wei 和老公朱恆輝 (BreadTalk 國際麵包連鎖店董事長) 捐總值菲幣一萬五千披索的摸彩禮券、Yvonne Yu 和老公Albert Yu ( Hasbro 代理) 捐創意黏土 。

同樣萬分感謝擔任貴賓的菲律賓商業鏡報發行人Anthony Cabangon、 媒體代表 (英文字母順序)：菲律賓商業鏡報總編輯Jun Vallecera、副總編輯Max V. de Leon 和國際版主編Rodel Alzona、馬尼拉標準報新聞主編、馬尼拉時報記者Iza Iglesias、菲律賓人民日報專欄作家Angelo Tugado、台灣中央社特派員林行健、宏觀電視特派員王永鑫，也感謝駐菲律賓代表處新聞組莊正安組長、潘志筠副組長和助理Elaine Ramirez，另外特別感謝美麗大方又會多國語言的司儀吳美齡、全心付出的唱詩班成員陳王幼琳、呂欣蓉、袁麗薇、羅惠琪、王美娟、陳雅弘和楊素琴，當然還要感謝自動減價的外燴餐廳老闆Ron of Ark 和租借場地的Pacific Plaza Condominium. 新聞連結

謝謝大家！我們做到了！XOXO 一起再接再勵哦！

最後我想分享一段感性的簡訊，是位帥哥來賓事後傳來的，他是朋友的朋友：

“式敏，
再次恭喜妳，交出這麼漂亮的成績！妳帶動得超好玩！最讚的是，因為妳的付出，小朋友可以去上學！

謝謝妳給我機會參與，盡一份小小心意，是我那天最得意的事。

或許有一天我們會再相遇，請多保重、照顧自己！我要戴起妳的手環，讓自己驕傲一下 (嗯 ....我已經戴上了！)。”