Let’s Bring Tara Home!

I received this email from a friend of mine, Angela Serrano, who has been constantly helping her ROTC buddy, Tara Santelices, a fellow Atenean get her life back. Tara was also a comrade of mine during our ROTC days. I’m reposting this to appeal to all the kind hearts out there, especially fellow Ateneans, to do your part in helping Tara live a normal life again.

Angela’s letter starts here:

My ROTC buddy, and–for many of the people reading this–fellow Atenean Antonia Marina “Tara” Bosch Santelices has been confined in Medical City since 6 August 2008. She has lain unconscious for five months after being shot in the forehead during a jeepney hold-up the morning of her birthday. She has recovered from her comatose state and has long been transferred from ICU. She can breathe 100% on her own, no longer requiring the aid of a respirator.

Her family longs to take her back home. The promise of home care has been the topic of my conversations with her family since last year. Unfortunately, the hospital will not release her until all the bills have been paid. To date, the hospital expenses have amounted to 1.8 million pesos (PhP 1.8 M). And there’s a separate bill for the cost of medicines and the doctors’ fees.

Many kind souls have donated money. Others have organized fund-raising events. Many more have spread the word through blogs, e-mail, text messages, petitions, AM radio and even the most widely read newspapers.

Yet more money is needed. 

And prayers are not enough. Concrete action is needed for the prayers to bear fruit.

What can we do?

1) Donate. Any amount will do. Send the money to Tara’s mother, Anne Santelices, through BDO SA 2140-06220-1.

2) Organize fund-raising events or find ways your organization/ business can raise funds through its current projects. If you’re a student group organizing a benefit concert/fun run/play/any kind of event and you want the money to go to a good cause, why not this? If you’re running a business and you want to engage in corporate social responsibility, why not partner up with the Santelices family? I can put you in touch with them, just contact me.

3) Spread the word and tell everyone else to spread the word. Maybe you really do want to help but unfortunately, you don’t have the money, the time and/or opportunities to organize fund-raising projects. What you can do is help spread the word. Share Tara’s story and her family’s need for financial help. Talk to your parents, your siblings, your barkada, your block mates, your org mates, your teachers, your students, everyone you know. Just keep spreading the word and it’s bound to reach people who can actually donate or organize fund-raisers.

I’ve learned that as an individual acting alone, there really isn’t much I can do, no matter how hard I wish, no matter how hard I try. It is only by reaching out to a larger community that I can actually hope to achieve something.

Thank you for reading this. If anything, I hope you can at least forward this message or link back to this post. Let’s help bring Tara home!