HUNDREDS OF department secretaries, maintenance staff members and library personnel gathered at the College Covered Courts for the Salamat Sa Tumutulong (SST) Christmas Party last December 7.
The event, which has been held annually for more than two decades, aims to show gratitude to the non-teaching staff of the Loyola Schools.
The Department of Student Welfare and Services (DSWS), in coordination with the Sanggunian and the Ateneo Junior Marketing Association (AJMA), organized the event. This is the first year that AJMA co-organized the event.
Sanggunian President Gio Alejo delivered the opening remarks. He said that SST was a way for the students to express how important the non-teaching personnel are to them.
“Kayo po ang susi para maging kumpleto ang buhay namin dito sa Ateneo. [Kaya] masasabi ko po talaga na sa literal na paraan, kayo ang aming mga bayani (You are crucial to our lives here in the Ateneo. This is why I can really say that you are our heroes),” he said.
AJMA President John Palma explained that their main objective in co-organizing SST was to solicit support from students through the promotions.
“The whole concept of the project is for the students, who are the majority of the population of the school, to say thank you,” he added. “I really wanted to make the students aware that there is actually a project like this where they can donate and they can help.”
DSWS Chairperson Jerard So said in a mix of English and Filipino, “This year, AJMA helped us so we just focused on logistics, programs and whatnot. As for AJMA, they were the ones who handled the matters of corporate relations and marketing.”
Palma further said, however, that although the project has improved largely this year, he believed that it could still urge more support from the students through solicitation of donations.
