UC athletic director distributes relief goods to needy student-athletes

CEBU CITY, Philippines – “Very fulfilling!” This is what the University of Cebu (UC) athletic director Jessica Jawad-Honoridez said as she finished distributing the first batch of relief goods to some of their student-athletes.

“Nalipay ko kay nakadistribute nako ug pipila ka relief goods,” said Honoridez.

(I am happy because I was able to distribute some of the relief goods.)

Mindful that not all of their student-athletes belong to families who are well-equipped to deal with the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), a measure put in place amidst the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Honoridez said that she decided to raise funds to buy them relief goods.

“I was sure nga daghan nila (student-athletes) galisod kay kana ganing klase maglisod man gani sila ug bayad sa P500, nya wa pa jud sila allowance karon kay way klase,” said Honoridez.

(I was sure that many of our student-athletes are having a hard time because during classes, they even have a hard time paying the P500, and right now, they are not getting their allowance.)

Not wanting to bother the school knowing that they are already contending with a lot of things, Honoridez said that she decided to solicit from the school’s alumni and her friends.

Honoridez is no stranger to solicitation as she does this every year for the Ernie Jawad Cup, a national table tennis tournament that she organizes in memory of her brother.

As she has no social media accounts, Honoridez asked one of her former players, Jennifer Jacalan, to disseminate information using her social media accounts.

She then asked their coaches to identify those who will be needing relief goods, thus from about 400 student-athletes, they were able to narrow their list down to about a hundred.

To Honoridez’s delight, they were able to raise P60,000 which she used to buy 10 kilos of rice and three bars of soap for handwashing for each student-athlete.

Aside from the student-athletes at the UC Main, Honoridez also extended giving relief goods to student-athletes at the UC Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue branch.

She also included the coaches who were not renewed under her term as athletic director.

“It was time for me to reach out, that it was nothing personal,” explained Honoridez on why she included them.

According to Honoridez, if she could raise more funds, she would include other UC students who are not athletes as well as student-athletes of other schools who are all in need of relief goods.

The athletic director and table tennis coach added that in these times, you should already know what to do. No one should have to ask you to help, especially if you have the capabilities. /rcg