DAVAO CITY – Even before the Philippine eagle stuffed toys in custom-made Renee Salud outfit were presented to the public for auctioning on Thursday (Jan. 14), these were already sold out.
But this didn’t stop the guests of the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao from pledging their P10,000 for a pair of the toy birds dressed in one-of-a-kind designer clothes.
The turnout of support surprised both the organizers and the Philippine Eagle Foundation. They are now committed to creating additional designer eagles for the donors.
Salud used authentic fabrics from the different tribes of Mindanao in creating a his and hers costumes for the 10 pairs of eagle stuffed toys.
More than owning the iconic representations of the eagle dressed by an equally iconic Filipino fashion figure, the event was aimed at protecting the feathered creature from getting plucked out of existence.
Shortly after the presentation of the dolled up eagles by the members of the Hijos de Davao, who were in Renee Salud as well, Marco Polo exceeded the P1-million mark in donations, P750,000 of which was raised by the hotel chain through the fund-raising campaign its team―the Marco Polo Davao, Marco Polo Cebu, Marco Polo Ortigas and the Marco Polo Hong Kong hotels.
The gathering was originally planned as a simple turnover ceremony with Marco Polo Hotels President-Designate Jennifer Cronin, and Carlos Dominguez, chair of PEF and Halifax Davao Hotel, Inc.-owning company of Marco Polo Davao, presenting the donation to PEF Executive Director Dennis Salvador. But the expanded program that injected a stylish twist had encouraged everyone, including members of Davao’s elite, corporate guests, tourism partners and friends from the national and local media, present in the ballroom to dig into their pockets.
With the pouring of donations, the move proved to be a success.
Although the Marco Polo Davao has been a partner of the PEF for more than a decade now and the “adoptive parent” of Philippine eagle “Marikit,” this particular fund raising campaign, the brainchild of the Marco Polo Hotels Vice President for Operations Mr. Philippe Caretti, was a very welcome project for the PEF.