Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) celebrates its 10th Ready for School (RFS) campaign. The annual initiative which will run throughout the month of May will engage various companies from all over the country.

RFS gathers over 700 employee-volunteers from participating companies who prepare various public schools nationwide in time for the opening of the school year in June. The activities include repainting of school chairs and blackboards, covering of books, construction of reading nooks and, and cleaning up classrooms.

These companies include AAI Worldwide Logistics, Inc.; Accenture, Inc.; Citi Philippines, Inc.; Deloitte Philippines; ePLDT; Hino Motors; Asalus Corporation (Intellicare); Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation; Medicard Philippines, Inc.; Philippine Spring Water Resources, Inc.; PLDT, Inc.; Sagrex Corporation; UBS Securities Philippines, Inc.; The Bellevue Manila; Telstra Foundation Philippines, Inc.; TSM Group, Inc.; as well as the USC Campus Lions Club. In-kind donations were also provided by Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. and the Philippine Stock Exchange.

For first time volunteer Catalino Bueno, a Human Resources Analyst from Accenture Philippines, having studied in a public school makes his participation even more meaningful.

“What I like about volunteering here is that you know that you’re part of improving the school’s facilities which in turn will motivate the pupils to study harder. The experience was very fulfilling especially for someone like me who went to a public school. All the time and effort that I put into it was all worth it because I know that somehow, I contributed something to children’s education,” he said.

A DECADE OF UPLIFTING EDUCATION

In support to the Department of Education’s “Brigada Eskwela,” RFS started in 2007 as a campaign to help public schools students have a better learning experience by pooling funds from PBSP member-companies and partners to purchase books, school supplies, bags, food products, and classroom cleaning materials. 

Five years ago, PBSP scaled up its involvement by adding a volunteerism component to the back-to-school campaign. It was the first non-government organization to systematically bring employee-volunteers from various companies to public schools. Since RFS began, PBSP has involved over 50 companies in helping more than 300 schools nationwide.

“We are on our 10th year now of giving partner companies an opportunity to help get the schools ready so that when the students come back from vacation, they don’t have to clean up anymore and proceed straight to learning since everything’s already clean and in order, and minor damages have already been repaired,” said PBSP Education Program Management Office Director, Dr. Marylin Muncada.

RFS is just one of the many initiatives and projects PBSP does to contribute in improving the quality of education in the Philippines. With the support of its member companies and partners, the organization also provides public schools with learning resource centers, scholarships, in-school supplemental feeding, as well as training for teachers and school administrators.

About Philippine Business for Social Progress

Philippine Business for Social Progress is the largest business-led NGO at the forefront of strategic corporate citizenship and business sector leadership, contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction. Established in 1970, PBSP remains a consultant and partner of choice of companies and donors.

PBSP scales up impact by adopting the Collective Impact strategy to solve large, complex, systemic problems.  PBSP organizes Platforms for Collective Engagements (PlaCEs) to ensure alignment and sustainability of initiatives by multiple stakeholders.

Responding to the changing landscape of CSR, PBSP’s brand of corporate citizenship taps into the core business competencies of companies and promotes inclusive business as a strategy. PBSP also continues to strategically engage companies through social investment, responsible business practices, and philanthropy.

PBSP creates sustainable solutions to societal problems in its core program areas which are Health, Education, Environment, and Livelihood and Enterprise Development. It also provides off-the-shelf options for engagement of companies and their employees.

With a proven track record, PBSP provides end-to-end services in development consulting which include project and grants management, events and backroom management.

CONTACT:

Jayson Mangalus                                                                                                                 

Communications Officer

Email: jrmangalus@pbsp.org.ph