00:00From the simple sands given by the trees to the blocking of the mountains in severe calamities such as the typhoon,
00:22we are always reminded to return the gratitude to Mother Nature through small things such as planting.
00:38This Christmas, the tree planting was organized by the group Andam Higala as a thank you to Mother Nature.
00:48The group of students from the Universities of Cagayan de Oro and Young Professionals
00:56helped to plant more than 500 seedlings of trees in Sitio Kamarahan in Barangay Pagatpat.
01:05Actually, as an environmental advocate, aside from being a women advocate, I am happy and I feel contentment to myself.
01:19It's because I am not the only one who can benefit, not only the environment but also the future children.
01:26The group also celebrated Christmas full of gratitude to the animals.
01:32They went around the downtown area of Cagayan de Oro to feed more than 50 stray cats on the streets.
01:42They were also part of the activity of a non-government organization called Love and Paws.
01:48I feel so happy because imagine we are the youth, we are youth who are serving the community.
01:57But then even the animals, we can cater because we are not just focusing on people.
02:07Animals also need help too.
02:10Aside from caring for the environment and animals, the group also launched the Santa Higala Project this Christmas.
02:19Its goal is to share help and gifts to the five communities they chose,
02:26especially to those affected by the typhoon, demolition, fire and other calamities and disasters.
02:33Yeah, that's our way of giving back to the communities, to the communities that we promised to give back to children.
02:41Because when we started Santa Higala, actually we are a group of scholars in the city.
02:46And this is our way, even before in the last five years, we've been helping children in many other ways.
02:54The beneficiaries were also grateful for their early acceptance.
03:01I am very thankful.
03:03It's not just a simple thing, like giving a gift.
03:06It's not just a simple thing, like giving a gift.
03:13It's not just a simple thing, like giving a gift.
03:20Youth really has the power to start the change in our communities and this is like a message of hope
03:25for everyone who is watching that hopefully, regardless if you're still young,
03:32but I believe that it's never too young to lead and never too young to bring in change and start the change in our community.
03:41This Christmas, we should be thankful for many things.
03:46That's why in our simple way, we can show our gratitude for all the blessings we received.
03:55From GMA Regional TV, I am Cyril Chavez.
04:02Tune in 24 hours.
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