SERENDIPITY OR DESTINY

SERENDIPITY OR DESTINY

Some may say that it was serendipity; others may say it was destiny!

When Loudette Avelino, Mary Rose Jacinto Ezpeleta, and the late Adriana Azores Cordero, batchmates from AC HS Class ’59, reunited in New York in 1987, they spent hours reminiscing and making lists of their classmates’ whereabouts. As they agreed to bring together alumnae residing in the United States, the Assumption Alumnae Association Abroad (AAAA)-Northeast Chapter came into fruition. It was to be the association of the alumnae for the alumnae with the guidance of Sr. Loretto Mapa and Sr. Cecilia Hervas (formerly known as Mother Eloisa) who, to this day, are the faithful advisors. Other chapters were later established in Washington, D.C., Southern California, and Vancouver, B.C.

Since its inception, our Chapter has been involved in various activities with three main objectives in mind: upholding the Assumption spirit by initiating activities for the spiritual fortification of its members; fund-raising for deserving causes; and providing fun and enjoyable activities to engage members and foster closer ties among them.

Throughout the years, we have spearheaded multiple projects in pursuit of these objectives—

organizing retreats and meaningful recollections for its members; participating in and sponsoring the annual Simbang Gabi at the Philippine Consulate General in New York, a Filipino Catholic tradition we all dearly embrace during the Christmas season; volunteering at the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” project; helping sort clothes at Baby Buggy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clothing and equipment for New York’s families in need; providing monetary and spiritual support to the Assumption Sisters in Chapparal, New Mexico, whose mission is to help the poor immigrant communities especially the children in the Southwest along the U.S.-Mexico border; and at one time in the past, providing support for the San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel in Manhattan during its early years. 

Our continued fund-raising efforts have included selling goods at flea markets, holding concerts, sponsoring a movie preview, and holding a dance challenge which was a lot of fun. The beneficiaries of these activities include causes such as typhoon victims, past and present scholarships for students at the San Juan Nepomuceno School in Malibay, and special funds for the Assumption Sisters in Chaparral, New Mexico. In addition, the Chapter also contributes to individuals and groups for charitable and humanitarian causes, including an organization devoted to fighting poverty in some rural areas in the Philippines and another that provides free hearing aids to the hearing-impaired communities including free cleft/craniofacial treatments also in the Philippines. We live the true Assumption spirit of Giving and Service embedded in our hearts as part of the Assumption Education through the teachings of St. Marie Eugenie.

Our AAAA-NE Chapter strives to engage in social and civic activities in an effort to strengthen friendships among the old and new members of the group. We hold annual holiday parties as well as summer picnics and support the Homecoming sa Konsulado, aprogram initiated by the Philippine Consulate in which members of more than twenty alumnae associations of Philippine schools and universities based in New York City participate. It is a fun-filled day of games, feasting, entertainment and networking.

We look forward to the resumption of normalcy from the pandemic so we can resume our plans and finally schedule the next AAAA’s 12^th Triennial Reunion in Philadelphia which had originally been scheduled for August of 2020.

In the meantime, the AAAA Board continues to keep the vision that Linden Martinez, one of the past presidents of the AAAA-NE Chapter, aptly encapsulated in the word “A.M.E.N.”  

A = Awareness

M = Making a difference through

E = Education and   

N = Nurturing the Assumption Spirit and Values

We aim to raise the community’s awareness about social issues and strive to make a difference by raising funds to support advocacy groups with a mission to educate and nurture Christian values in everyone. We forge ahead with our “AMEN” vision ever mindful of the words of St. Marie Eugenie, the foundress of the Religious of the Assumption:

          “We must nourish our light in order to give light.”