Over 10,000 Kapamilyas attended. About P5-million worth of services rendered...

Over 10,000 people gathered in the one-hectare grounds of Mabolo Elemantary School in Cebu City recently, to avail of the free services of the much-awaited Grand Halad sa Kapamilya of the ABS-CBN Regional Network Group. About P5-million worth medicines, eyeglasses and other service products were given away, not to mention the free services rendered.

As early as 1 a.m., participants who came mostly from Metro Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Negros Oriental, started piling up at the venue just right for the hundreds of volunteers and donors who attended.

Senior citizens were given priority through express lanes for the medical and dental missions as well as in other government services such as the one stop service shop of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Social Security System, Pagibig, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and National Statistics Office (NSO).

Over 5,000 patients were given free medicines after consultations with volunteer doctors and nurses from Cebu City Medical Center, Cebu City Health Department, University of the Visayas, University of Cebu and Southwestern University. The medical and dental services were held inside the school’s Benedicto Memorial Gym.

Most of the patients who attended the medical mission came with their families. Cough and colds were the common ailments . Medicines like Paracetamol and Multivitamins were given to them by the doctors as an immediate relief.

About 600 patients, on the other hand, availed of the free dental services rendered by the Cebu City Council Committee on Health and Hospital Services and the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

Minor surgeries were also performed to about 200 patients by the surgeons of Cebu Doctors University Hospital (CDUH), while more than 2,000 patients availed the free laboratory services such as the free chest x-ray, FBS and cholesterol, optical services and free reading eyeglasses, pulmonary test and nutrition counseling. The medicines and medical equipment were donated by Jessu Christi Community.

Patients who were diagnosed with severe illness were immediately referred to the charity wards of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Chong Hua Hospital and Cebu Doctors University Hospital.

During this joyous day of pure public service, about 300 people participated the Kapamilya Blood Donation Campaign held in five venues simultaneously.

ABS-CBN Cebu’s Kapamilya Relief Campaign also gave away relief goods to the poor families of Mabolo and its neighboring barangays. Other partner organizations distributed seedlings, candies and bread. Bantay Bata 163 and the Naval forces Central sponsored mass feeding, children’s games and free haircut.

Free livelihood seminars such as techno skills demo, business plan making, financial literacy, organic farming and waste treatment and segregation were attended by about 2,500 people. Some beneficiaries brought along their pets for free veterinary services from Cebu City Veterinarian’s Office. TESDA and IECEP also offered free mobile phone and personal computer repairs.

Sagip Kapamilya Foundation, 71 Dreams Foundation, Matahari Trading, Popular Feed Mills Corp., Wow Travel and More and the Department of Health are only of the few medicine donors in the well-attended Kapamilya gathering.