I LIKE the idea that I fund the Peter’s Prize alone.
It slaps the face of my critics hard.
When they idiotically ask why in the world I would name an award after me, I can tell them, Because I can afford it!
And if they’re so dense not to get it, I can even snap, What’s your problem? It’s my money!
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Contributors, though, humble me.
Because it’s not just my money anymore.
And so I become more careful about how their money is used responsibly.
Contributors make me cry.
Because it makes me feel that some people get it.
That they understand what I do for Hiligaynon literature and the arts.
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And it makes me feel grateful, and blessed, that I am no longer alone in what I do.
That this is no longer a lonely mission.
I will not lie to you.
The one million pesos that I put in to start my foundation is almost gone.
More than the Peter’s Prize, my Foundation is doing a lot of things: book publications, writing workshops, thesis grants, rural research, media promotion.
And these things cost a lot!
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In the first years of the Peter’s Prize, my Foundation hosted P25,000 annual dinners for the awardees, pro bono judges, and friends of the Foundation and the Peter’s Prize.
My idea was to copy the great awards banquet of the Palanca Awards where food and drinks flowed freely.
Because how else do you celebrate the writers of this country if you are only given night day of the year to honor them?
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It didn’t take long for me to recognize that I couldn’t sustain such lavish parties.
Unlike the Palanca, my Foundation is a poor upstart.
I still celebrate Peter’s Prize with parties.
Because how else do you celebrate the writers and artists of this country if you are only given night or day of the year to honor them?
But my awards party are smaller now.
Intimate, but fun.
And still prestigious.
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Party cost is just one of the reasons for downsizing though.
The other is that the winners of the Peter’s Prize have become more cosmopolitan.
In later years, Peter’s Prize winners have come from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from Murcia, La Carlota, and Bacolod City in Negros; from Manila in Luzon; from South Cotabato in Mindanao.
While the Peter’s Prize honor is international, I can hardly fly winners to Iloilo for an intimate awards night.
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So, I started going to where the honorees are, and bring their awards for presentation.
It’s a Foundation event, but I chalk the travel cost and the awards dinner/luncheon as personal expenses.
Only the cash prizes and promotional expenses are charged to the Foundation.
Which I still almost singlehandedly fund.
So, yeah, if I turn out broke in the next few years, that is where my money went.
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Trust me.
I will not give you the pleasure of seeing me beg for financial contributions to help my Foundation.
My Foundation, when it happens, will go down with dignity and pride.
But I will humble myself to accept donations and contributions to help my Foundation.
And especially the Peter’s Prize.
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I’m a proud person.
I will not accept anonymous donations.
I don’t care if you are donating P100, or 1 Million pesos.
I need to know where the money is coming from.
And to be honest, I’d rather have many P100 donors than one 1 Million-peso donor.
I know it makes no business sense.
But my Foundation is not a business!
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How to electronically donate cash to my literature and art advocacies—
Go to my website: petersolisnery.com
Go to the “Contact” tab, below the “Foundation” tab.
Again, Contact tab; not Foundation.
The “PayPal” link is after the social media links Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram.
Hit the PayPal link, and take it from there.
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If you don’t want to visit my website, you can just proceed to PayPal.
Especially if you are internet savvy, and already have a PayPal account.
If not, the PayPal link is: paypal.me/peternery
My email associated with that PayPal account is: frapippo@yahoo.com
And the phone number associated with it is [+1] (410) 491-2526
[+1] is, of course, the country code for the USA, and (410) is my area code in Baltimore.
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The BPI account number of The Peter Solis Nery Foundation for Hiligaynon Literature and the Arts, Inc. is 9243-2154-36.
It was opened at the Iloilo-Solis branch.
If you know me personally, and you trust that I won’t spend your donation for anything else other than the Foundation’s mission and projects, you can deposit your donations and contributions directly to my BPI Express Teller account: 0486-4551-91.
Account name: Peter S Nery.
Right now, I won’t accept donations in excess of P20,000.
I mean, if you are giving my Foundation P20,000.50, can we please discuss it first?
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Please do not rush and deposit money in my, or my Foundation’s, account.
Please let us talk a while.
I’m on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and even Twitter.
I’d like to know why you’d like to give to my Foundation.
Sure, I understand that my goals are noble.
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But I really want to hear your exact words.
I want you to say that you believe in my mission, and you want to support it.
Because P100 plus your sincere words would feel like a million pesos to me!
I’ll say it again, and with pride: I don’t need your money more than I need your show of support.
Support is a wonderful thing.
It is like hope.
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Support strengthens a heart that could be thinking of giving up.
It refuels a dream that is on the verge of dying out.
Support is like the ray of sun after the dark night of the soul.
A hope so bright it warms the heart.
And melts our selfish, stony pride.
Support makes us feel connected to one another. (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
