With a mission to bring joy to communities, The SM Store surprised students and teachers at Inigan Elementary School with new toys, books and school supplies.
Inigan Elementary School is one of the last mile schools in Rodriguez, Rizal. Just a two or three hour drive from Manila, one can see the Sierra Madre mountain range and the Wawa Dam watershed from this community. Although the city is close to Manila, bringing aid and supplies is difficult as it takes hours of walking or riding a banca to get to Sitio Inigan.
One day before Christmas, SM, along with teachers and parents, set up a shop in the school to bring holiday cheer to the children of Inigan Elementary School. Children and their parents eagerly awaited their turn to “buy free” or choose from figures, board games and educational toys from Hasbro’s Share A Gift campaign.
Last year Hasbro launched Share A Gift in partnership with The SM Store and Toy Kingdom. From July 30 to September 30, a portion of sales of select Hasbro products purchased from The SM Store and Toy Kingdom was donated to the Share A Gift program to purchase toys and activity materials for children ages 3 to 15. Share A Gift collected toys and activity materials for 200 children from The SM Store and Hasbro partner communities.
Before entering the classroom filled with toys and school supplies, children and their parents were guided to check their temperature and disinfect their hands using thermometers and alcohol vending machines donated by The SM Store to respect security protocols. The children received backpacks and school supply kits containing notepads, rulers, notebooks and writing materials from the stationery department of the SM store. Books from the SM Store’s Donate A Book program were also donated to rebuild the school library destroyed by Typhoon Ulysses in 2020.
Kairee, a grade 5 student who hopes to someday be a flight attendant, shares: “Masaya po nanakatanggap kami ng school supplies for makatulongsapag-aaralnamin in sapagsagotsamodules.“
“Salamat po sa SM, Makakapaglaro kami ng kapatid koexclaimed ZayrhusSolina, one of the best first graders.
“Malaki ang tulong na maibibigay ng initiative na ito ngThe SM store lalo na sa mga mag-aaral. Mabu-to strenghten ang moral nila, hindi sila mawawalan ng pag-asa, and hindi sila male-left behind, kasi kung anuman is one of the bayan bay friends who is one of the bestSaid Sheilini Buenaflor, teacher in charge at Inigan Elementary School.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community. Seeing the smiles of the kids and their parents was worth it, ”said Carmina Torres, volunteer with The SM Store.
Inigan Elementary School is just one of the beneficiaries of SM Store’s community programs. In addition to Share A Gift with Hasbro, The SM Store recently distributed books from its Donate A Book program to over 100 schools and communities nationwide and will soon be visiting other communities to distribute donations from its Share campaign. A Toy. These annual programs are made possible by the generosity of customers and partners who have participated in The SM Store’s outreach activities by donating clothing, shoes, books, learning materials and toys.
For more information, visit The SM Store website.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER