Reinforcing the value of volunteerism, some 600 PSUnians, clad in orange shirts, gamely participated in the TatakBOLUNTIR Fun Run activity of Pangasinan State University today, December 9, 2024 in a unified act to create awareness on volunteer work and to end violence against women and children (VAWC).

University President Dr. Elbert M. Galas led the teaching and non teaching force, students, ROTC trainees, and stakeholders from the nine campuses in an early morning three-kilometer, five-km, and 10-km run from PSU Lingayen to Camp Malong in Binmaley town. (see list of winners in separate story)

โ€œ๐‘€๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ƒ๐‘†๐‘ˆ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ , ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ, ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”; ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘Ž ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘’. ๐‘‰๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘š ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›โ€™๐‘  ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘ . ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™๐‘™๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘“๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘–๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘‘,โ€ ๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐†๐š๐ฅ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐š๐ ๐ž.

Meanwhile, Vice President Razeale Resultay of the Research, Extension, and Innovation Division said it is the first time that PSU is hosting the TatakBoluntir Fun Run as a means to transform awareness campaign into platforms of change and inspiration as volunteerism is rooted in the desire to make a positive impact and create meaningful change in the world.

The activity was supported by the provincial government of Pangasinan led by Governor Ramon โ€˜Mon-Monโ€™ V. Guico III and the Municipality of Lingayen led by Mayor Leopoldo N. Bataoil.

โ€œ๐ผ๐‘“ ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜, ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’, ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘, ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘ ,โ€™ ๐Œ๐š๐ฒ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐š๐ญ๐š๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐š๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐š๐ ๐ž ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ.

Major gains in volunteerism was also through the support and partnership with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) led by Regional Director Stephanie Christiansen who personally graced the event; the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) led by Regional Director Dr. Christine Ferrer who was represented by Dr. Mitcheline Rivo and the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) led by Executive Director Donald Gawe as represented by Mr. Anthony Bagan.

Noteworthy during the TatakBoluntir were two senior citizen Campus Executive Directors- Dr. Elmer Vingua of Infanta Campus and Dr. Rosario DL Valencerina of Alaminos City Campus who both said they ran the 3-KM Finish Line because running promotes healthy and mental well-being plus they also want to help create awareness on the essence of volunteerism, with a normal blood pressure!

Consequently, Gender and Development Director Dr. Romary Lincod shared that the reality of VAWC is undeniable, thus volunteerism gives people a meaningful way to fight back and gives a choice as each awareness campaign and each act of support plays a role in breaking the cycle of violence.

Finishers for the Fun Run were awarded with certificates and cash prizes. The winners for the best booth creatively designed by the campuses were also announced (see separate story)

The Volunteer Month reminds everyone that that they have a role to play in building a more inclusive and compassionate society. Whether big or small, every effort counts and every gesture of goodwill brings people closer to a brighter future.

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