Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families

Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families

November 07, 2018

One year after the liberation of Marawi, The SM Store continues to assist families affected by the siege through its Donate-A- Book, Give the Gift of Wellness, and Share Your Extras campaigns.

In a series of ceremonial turnovers held at SM CDO Uptown, boxes of clothes, slippers, books, notebooks, school supplies, Safeguard soaps and hygiene packs from SM Shoppers were officially turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 12 for the benefit of the Marawi community.

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​The SM Store’s Give the Gift of Wellness distributed over 16,000 bundles of Safeguard soaps.
Present in the ceremonial turnover were The SM Store VP Operations and CSR Head Ma. Cecilia Abreu, VP
Operations Ross Oquialda, DSWD Regional Program Coordinator Noraidah Busran and DSWD Assistant Regional Director Manuel Borres.

The SM Store representatives Ruben Barroso (AVP Mindanao Operations) and Ingrid Viado (SM CDO Branch Manager)
visited the Marawi community and distributed packs of Safeguard soaps to the parents of Abdulazis Elementary School.

“Marawi was chosen as the beneficiary of all our CSR donations this year because of the devastation the City went through,” says Ma. Cecilia Abreu, The SM Store VP Operations and CSR Head. “Through the donations coming from our customers, we hope that somehow SM can help Marawi residents in their everyday lives and communicate to them that there are a lot of fellow Filipinos who care for them so much.”

During the onsite distribution of donations in Marawi City, families were all smiles, filled with hope and excitement as they received donations from The SM Store . For Donate-A-Book, 3,650 boxes of books, notebooks and school supplies were turned over to the kids of Marawi community.

Give the Gift of Wellness, on the other hand, distributed over 16, 000 bundles of Safeguard soaps; while the Share Your Extras campaign had 295 boxes filled with assorted wears, slippers and hygiene packs to help Marawi families in their everyday sanitary needs.

[caption id="attachment_6392" align="aligncenter" width="341"]Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families[/caption]

 Recipients were all smiles as they received their gifts of wellness from The SM Store.

[caption id="attachment_6393" align="aligncenter" width="664"]Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families Gifts of knowledge and wellness from The SM Store to Marawi families[/caption]

A grade school student from Abdulazis Elementary School is happy with her soap bundle.

For the Donate-a-Book campaign, The SM Store gave away 3, 650 boxes of books, notebooks and school supplies to the Marawi community.
Shown in the photo are The SM Store representatives Ruben Barroso and Ingrid Viado,
DSWD Representatives Noraidah Busran together with the students and parents of Abdulazis Elementary School.

Students and members of the Parents-Teachers Association of Abdulazis Elementary School were
all smiles as they received new notebooks from The SM Store’s Donate-A-Book project.

“The Marawi siege [was] very destructive to the Maranao people especially [when] much of their livelihood was lost,” said Noraidah Busran, DSWD Regional Project Coordinator. “The SM Store was a big help to a lot of people especially in Sarimanok evacuation area. The smile and happiness of the people are priceless,”

It can be remembered that in May 2017 an urban battle between government forces and militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) took place and lasted for five months. This conflict resulted in the loss of life, homes, and livelihood, with families evacuating in temporary shelters.

Grade school students happily show their new notebooks courtesy of the Donate-A-Book campaign.

These new notebooks will help these tittle girls with their school work.

The SM Store’s Donate-A-Book project gathered notebooks and other school supplies for the benefit of the Marawi community.

The donation to Marawi victims is one of the ways that The SM Store reaches out to communities in times of need. This is also one of its joint efforts in providing an aid to the people of Marawi.

For Share Your Extras, The SM Store was able to officially turn over 295 boxes of assorted wears, slippers and hygiene packs to help the Marawi families.
Shown in the photo are DSWD Region 12 Representatives Bai Taha and Noraidah Busran, The SM Store representatives- Oliver Tiu (VP for Mindanao Operations),
Ingrid Viado (Branch Manager), Bernadette Flores (SM CDO Downtown Mall Manager) and Ruby Sano (Regional Manager for HR).