In photo are, from left: PLDT-Smart Foundation President Esther Santos; Girlstown Local Superior Sr. Mela Sim, SM; Girlstown School Principal Sr. Gertrudes U. Dayag, SM; and Officer-in-Charge Fr. Al's Children Foundation, Inc. (FACFI) Sr. Teresita A. Sumalabe, SM.
Students of Biga Girlstown recently received donations of vegetables and rice from the PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) to help provide for their nutritional needs, especially in these challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sisters of Mary Biga Girlstown and Adlas Boystown are beneficiaries of the Fr. Al's Children Foundation, Inc. (FACFI). They are both located in Silang, Cavite.
The PSF donation to the Girlstown included 100 sacks of Dinorado rice, and a variety of vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, squash, garlic, eggplants, monggo, sayote and onions, for a total amount of P145,000.00.
"We are happy to provide some essential nourishing food to the students of the Sisters of Mary Girlstown," said PSF President Ma. Esther O. Santos. "It is important for them, as teen-agers, to eat healthy so they can develop a strong immune system that can fight and defeat diseases," Santos pointed out.
In 2015, PSF donated P5M to FACFI for the construction of the Boystown's workshops for the training courses in Machining NC II & III, and CNC Lathe & Milling.
"I wish to thank PSF and all our benefactors for their support which enables us to carry out our responsibility of providing these youngsters with their basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, high school education — totally free of charge," said Sister Teresita A. Sumalabe, SM OIC of FACFI.
She added that: "Though there are many worries and concerns, especially during this pandemic, with faith in God and together with our benefactors who are committed to joining us in this noble work, we are confident that we can move forward, full of hope for a better tomorrow, with a better society in a better world."
Some students from Girlstown are joined by, from left: PLDT-Smart Foundation President Esther Santos; Officer-in-Charge Fr. Al's Children Foundation, Inc. (FACFI) Sr. Teresita A. Sumalabe, SM; Girlstown School Principal Sr. Gertrudes U. Dayag, SM; and One Meralco Foundation President Jeffrey Tarayao.
The Sisters of Mary Boystown has 1,940 students while the Girlstown has a population of 2,779. These free boarding schools accept qualified high school students who belong to the poorest of the poor families from all over the Philippines.
Meanwhile, PSF is a non-profit organization that fully serves as the social outreach arm of PLDT, Inc. and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. Headed by PLDT and Smart Chairman Manuel V Pangilinan, the PSF created programs focused on education, livelihood and social enterprise, disaster response and recovery, youth arts and sports development.
To know more about the efforts of the PLDT Group in beating the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit https://beta.pldt.com/covid19.
