Changing Lives To Change Our Nation: How Meaningful Connections Empower Underprivileged Youth

Anyone would agree that giving back can make our lives more fruitful and give it more meaning. Many, however, don’t understand that money doesn’t always have to be involved in the act of giving back. Sometimes, sharing your support, your time or your talents can carry more weight than any amount of money. This was an important realization that gave me the idea to leverage my connections to help the causes I supported.

Instead of charging a fee for my speaking engagements, I started asking my hosts to donate to my chosen charity, Real LIFE Foundation, which is a nongovernmental organization that provides educational assistance to underprivileged youth in the Philippines. The organization believes that education can empower the youth, instilling in them important values which they could one day use to help their families, communities, and the country.

So far, I’ve been receiving good feedback from these speaking engagements, with my hosts appreciating being provided the chance to support a cause and help charity. In fact, I struck up a chat with a few of them recently, asking how they felt about donating and how that aligned with their own companies’ corporate social responsibilities and vision for the future.

Those I chatted with include Aggie Bonita-Dasig, RFC, CWPP Branch Manager at Pru Life UK; Sotero “Jimmy” M. Atienza, Field Manager at Sun Life Financial Philippines; and Sean Yap, 2021-2022 Membership Communications Committee Country Chair for Malaysia’s Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) and Co-Founder and COO of ProppyApp.

Janet: What were your thoughts when I asked you to donate the money you were to pay me for the speaking engagement you hosted me for?

Jimmy: Janet, I feel that your initiative to solicit donations is not self-serving and is directed towards fulfilling your way to contribute to a worthwhile institution. You don’t benefit monetarily from such engagements, despite the efforts you put into them.

Aggie: Yes, helping without any benefit to you is an act not many people do. That speaks so much of your generosity.

You were also very generous with your time with us. But requesting for a donation for an NGO in return was even more admirable and selfless.

Janet: Has anyone ever asked you to donate to charity in exchange for something?

Aggie: Yes, we once had a speaker who requested that the cost of the food we would send him be given in cash to his parish instead. Another requested his food be sent to his staff for them to also partake.

Jimmy: Most of my donations are usually directed to support church missionaries in Mindanao and the like. You, Janet, have opened an opportunity for me to know how you’re supporting kids to school on the proceeds of your speaking engagements.

Janet: Of course, how I do during the speaking engagement itself is also important to me. So I’d like to ask if my talk left an impact on those who listened to it?

Aggie: While it has been almost two years since you spoke to us, your story remains memorable. You shared about rising from a personal crisis which was a lesson on strength and positivity. Your story also emphasized the importance of transformation, the willingness to expand our comfort zone in our process of discovery and growth.

Janet, you and I belong to different insurance companies, and it’s not often that we have speakers from other companies. Your talk affirmed that we all have the same mission and we can help each other become better in what we do.

Jimmy: I can remember your talk, Janet, on niche marketing, which gave me awareness to focus on certain areas of work to develop a specialization. I know it did the same for others in the company who heard your talk as they too now want to grow and focus on specialized markets.

Sean: Janet, your talk left a positive impact on the MDRT community, encouraging more of us to become a professional agent that serves their own communities. Selflessly sharing your experience motivates us members to emulate your example.

Janet: Knowing these now, do you think my vision for the future and responsibilities toward my community align with yours? Are there overlaps?

Aggie: Yes, there are overlaps. In our team, we will experience the willingness to help one another, sharing responsibilities so that we can all succeed in being of service to more people. In doing so, we also uplift the lives of the people we work with. This is essentially what you’re also doing, Janet.

Jimmy: Yes, I think there are overlaps as well. There’s a calling for everyone to be a blessing to someone. For you, Janet, the identifying mark manifested on your choice of charity to support.

Like you, I was also able to conduct talks and the beneficiary I chose is the same one you did during your engagement with us – Real LIFE Foundation.

Aggie: Your talk, Janet, was a reminder to many. There will always be challenges in life and it’s a choice to work on overcoming them. It may need reaching out to others for help and the willingness to try something different. But when you’ve seen some light out the tunnel, give back that blessing to someone else. Hopefully, the cycle of giving and helping will continue.

Janet: To wrap it up, I’d just like to ask why your company’s vision is important to you?

Jimmy: My company’s vision is important because it serves as a compass to the path we’re charting in the future. Like in life, there will always be distractions and disruptions, but my company’s vision puts me and my team back on track on what we need to do to get to our desired destination.

Sean: For us at MDRT, our vision paves the way for a better future for all stakeholders in the life insurance industry, both life insurance professionals and the consumers – or the public at large.

Aggie: Our vision is important because this business requires people who commit to serve their clients for a long time – that they will be there in the future when needed.

If you want to help the Real LIFE Foundation, please visit https://www.reallife.ph/.