NKTI's very jolly Dr. Tan with Joel. Taken second week of June 2014.

When a true friend is in need, we go a long way to help that friend through a crisis. Especially when it concerns health, we rouse up the whole neighbourhood or town to come to our aid on behalf of our friend or relative. We give of our time, our resources and our talents to raise as much help as we can to alleviate the financial and emotional burden that we feel and share with that person in distress.

Such is the love and sacrifice of real friends at LogicGateOne and Charterbase Solutions have for a precious relationship. This is the clear picture we see among the friends, relatives and associates of Joel Castillo who is presently undergoing medical treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, a form of cancer affecting the blood.

Being a member of the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, Joel’s frat brothers here and abroad have pitched in to provide his medical needs. The inspiring expression of concern warms the heart of Joel’s wife, Rose Castillo, to realize there are numerous people, known and unknown to them, who have come out to answer the call for help.

A SEO company in Subic Bay Philippines, LogicGateOne Corporation has done this by simply re-sharing and spreading a fundraising campaign for Joel via Facebook. The campaign involves selling t-shirts to those who are interested to give assistance to a frat brother in need.

Giving is the only activity that makes a person truly feel content about what he or she has. Often, we feel down when we think we do not have enough, not realizing that having a family, friends and the essential necessities in life can be real abundance in a world where many less fortunate people languish in poverty and dire need. Once we let go of something we feel is valuable, we suddenly realize we have been made stewards of such possessions for a while in order to make the lives of others more tolerable and even wonderful. From such an experience, true and lasting happiness arises.

Dr. Claire Rosario trying to explain what all the counts mean!

We need not give one half or a third of our possessions in order to please God or to show we truly have compassion and generosity. Many give their entire wealth and even their life but do not have genuine love within them, as the good book points out. We must give of ourselves first before we can truly give anything of value. And once we have the understanding and the will to sacrifice our material wealth and our precious time to reach out to others, there is great value and power in what we truly own in life and giving to others will seem as natural as if we were genuine philanthropists sharing a tiny surplus of our enormous possessions. Besides, in giving there is nothing tiny or negligible. What you give -- even two pesos -- if that is all that you have, is worth more than the wealth of others.

Joel's 2d Echo test. Echocardiography is also called an echo test. This test generates moving pictures of the heart using sound waves. An Echocardiogram helps evaluate various problems with the heart and its function. It gives information about the heart’s structure and blood flow non-invasively.

The heart is where all our treasures lie. Everything else is shareable for a heart that truly loves. Those who have not learned this lesson on giving remain holding on to their wealth, not realizing they will eventually give away their entire wealth to others when the time comes for them to depart from this life. We know we cannot bring anything with us except the good deeds we have done.

And so, giving is the only way we can truly say we are rich. But more than that, giving is the only way we can claim that we have made others rich as well for we allowed them to share in our wealth. In this world, there is no wealth greater than that kind of wealth. For eventually, giving will end in our receiving the promise of God that “those who are merciful shall receive mercy”, not only in this world but in the one to come.

Give – you are richer than you think you really are!