October 25, 2019 , 02:37pm

Sharing their best with the least

Jun Mapa, Consul Edna May Lazaro, SOSA President Carol Bañez, Deputy Consul General Bernadette Therese Fernandez, Minstrels of Hope Founder Alain Pronovost, and Anthony Go Villanueva with Minstrels of Hope singers at Our Lady of the Assumption Church.

‘Himig at Pag-asa’ Minstrels of Hope Concert

By Michelle Chermaine Ramos
The Philippine Reporter

On October 12, 2019 the Minstrels of Hope serenaded Toronto with their angelic voices at Our Lady of the Assumption Church as part of their Canadian tour after previous shows in Mississauga, Ottawa and Montreal. The Toronto concert was a collaboration between Sentro Rizal of the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto, the Scarborough Ontario Seniors Association, the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation and Our Lady of the Assumption Church. The Minstrels of Hope singers come from depressed areas of Manila and are inspiring role models of the urban poor serving the poor by sharing their God-given talents to help raise their fellow youth out of poverty. Their motto is “Nobody is too poor to have nothing to give and nobody is too rich to not need anything.” After benefitting from the kindness of others, the ladies decided to start their foundation to pay it forward by mentoring others. Proceeds from their international concerts and albums go towards their non-profit center Bahay Musika which provides educational assistance programs as well as values formation, music, choral singing, arts and crafts and theatre programs for underprivileged youth to discover and hone their talents for a brighter future.