Close to 70 orphans, visually impaired or deaf children in La Trinidad, Benguet and Baguio City received post Christmas gifts like clothes and toys from the Baguio Everlasting Lions Club (BELC).

The officers and members of BELC started their hectic 2009 schedule when they motored to the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC formerly Lingap Center) in Wangal, La Trinidad to distribute toys, slippers, and clothing to 29 babies and pre-school children last Jan. 3.

BELC president Jane Cosalan expressed gratitude to the management of RSCC under Judith de Guzman for accommodating their group.

The RSCC started to be constructed in the late ’80s and completed in 1991 during the term of Department of Social Welfare and Development director Porfiria Bernardez.

The center works for temporary placement of abandoned, neglected, abused, exploited, surrendered, and disabled children to volunteer substitute families under the Foster Care Program.

From RSCC, the civic group proceeded to the Northern Luzon Association of the Blind (NLAB) along Marcos Highway to also give clothes to 39 visually or hearing-impaired schoolchildren aged seven to 18 years old.

The children being housed and taken cared of at NLAB came from Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, La Union, Cagayan, Isabela, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Baguio, and Benguet. Children at NLAB were recipients of clothes and cash gifts raised from BELC fund-raising projects.

Two children at NLAB also underwent eye operations which were sponsored by BELC.

NLAB, which was formed in 1959 and under the supervision of the Christoffel Blindden Mission and the Heinz Woelke Foundation, is committed to the welfare of visually impaired persons in northern Luzon.

Cosalan said that senior citizens of Engineers Hill also received gifts from their group through punong barangay Jerry Sales and senior citizens’ group president Bonifacia Reyes.

Cosalan expressed hope that their group and the other Lions chapters will reach out to more indigent people in need of care and help in the coming years.