By Mariah Bennett | Staff Writer
The Filipino Student Association (FSA) is hosting a tabling event throughout October to help fundraise for Threads of Hope. It is selling handmade bracelets and keychains — which are crafted by Filipino families based in Puerto Galera, Mindoro — from noon to 3 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Fountain Mall.
Threads of Hope is a nonprofit focused on fighting human trafficking and child exploitation in the Philippines. It directly supports over 200 families and has a mission to empower families to create home enterprises that turn their vulnerable communities into sources of physical, educational and spiritual nourishment.
San Antonio sophomore and FSA chair Jessa Whalen said the bracelets have names like gospel, believe, prayer, pamilya (which translates to “family”) and tadhana (which translates to “destiny”). She said tadhana is also the name of FSA’s cultural dance team.
“We wanted to put names to the bracelets because it gives a little bit more meaning, especially to some of our members who buy those bracelets,” Whalen said. “It connects both the people who are buying it to the people who are making these bracelets and who the money will go back to.”
This is the second year that FSA is working with Threads of Hope, Whalen said. FSA will also be selling stickers made by its media team.
“Threads of Hope is actually one of [FSA’s philanthropies] now,” Whalen said. “It allows us to give back to the communities in the Philippines and also gives our members an opportunity to learn a little bit more about some of the situations happening in the Philippines.”
Laredo sophomore and FSA chair Eddie Lozano Jr. said the profits will help provide families with a sustainable income.
According to Lozano, when families do not have a sustainable income, unsafe situations may arise when parents go to work and leave their children at home, or children may have to get jobs themselves. In those cases, Lozano said there is a risk of children being taken advantage of and potentially kidnapped and exploited.
“To help prevent that, the income that they make from making the bracelets that we sell here in the U.S. and send back to the Philippines is to be able to keep the families together,” Lozano said. “The whole entire family is able to work on these projects so that they’re able to create more bracelets and be able to have a sustainable income throughout the year.”
Whalen said she has been to the Philippines recently, and despite the country changing so much, the overall situation is still the same. She said a lot of the profits from the tabling event will go toward education, community and health needs.
“A lot of people are still at risk, being forced into some of the jobs that they ethically shouldn’t be forced into,” Whalen said. “This money does go directly back to those families just to help them make a better life for themselves.”
October is also Filipino American History Month, which was established by the Filipino American National History Society in 1992 but was not recognized by Congress until 2009.
Lozano said the month is primarily to recognize the impact that Filipinos have had on the United States.
“It’s based in October, because the first Filipino to arrive in the United States — or at least in the Americas, which is now the United States — was on Oct. 18 of 1587,” Lozano said. “We’ve been here for quite a while, but it’s taken quite a while for us to be able to prove our recognition and to show our impact on current American society.”
Whalen said the timing of the tabling event during Filipino American History Month was both intentional and coincidental.
“It was a little bit of both,” Whalen said. “It gives us a little thing to do throughout the month of October.”
Lozano said he believes showing the many struggles happening in the Philippines is important.
“Our connection to the United States is so important, and yet not many people know about it,” Lozano said. “Just showing that connection, what we have and why we want to be able to work and connect people from both countries to have a good relationship with each other [is important].”
