Image: Instagram/@ivanaalawi
Ivana Alawi marked her recent birthday by not only having a celebration at home but also sharing her blessings to children who were confined in a hospital during Christmastime.
The actress-vlogger, who turned 26 last Christmas Day, gave away toys and P5,000 each to 50 children at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the National Children’s Hospital, as per her vlog yesterday, Jan. 10.
Alawi stated that giving away cash gifts served as a thanksgiving for those who supported her vlogs and her skincare brand, Ivana Skin. She also noted that hospitalized kids reminded her of the emotional toll to her family caused by her younger sister Mona having type 1 diabetes.
“Alam kong maraming batang may sakit na nagce-celebrate ng birthday nila sa ospital at hindi nila gusto. Siyempre gusto natin nando’n tayo sa labas,” she told fans. “Very malapit sa puso namin ‘yung mga kids na may sakit at nasa ospital kasi alam namin ‘yung feeling kung gaano kabigat at gaano kasakit. Si Mona, doon siya na-ospital before and nakita ko ‘yung mga kids doon. Naalala ko lang sila at gusto ko silang maging masaya.”
(I know that many kids are celebrating their birthday at the hospital even if they do not want to. Of course, we want to be outside. Sick and hospitalized kids are close to our hearts because we know how heavy it can feel and how much it hurts. Mona was hospitalized there before, and I saw the kids there. I just remembered them, and I want them to be happy.)
Given the COVID-19 protocols at hospitals, Alawi’s team did not get to personally hand out the gifts to patients, but they were able to drop them off at nurses’ stations, from where they were to be distributed to kids.
Meanwhile, Alawi kept herself busy over the past few months with her Metro Manila Film Festival movie “Partners in Crime,” in which she stars alongside Vice Ganda. She was also recently named one of the “100 Most Beautiful Faces” of 2022 by the UK-based TC Candler. /ra
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