Calvo & Clark’s Jacob Generates Support for School Children in the Phillippines

December 3, 2008

Lacee A.C. Martinez Bayanihan

To help some of the poorest children living in Manila, Guam residents Rodney and Dina Jacob called upon their family, friends and colleagues on island and in California to fill more than 50 balikbayan boxes of children's toys and books.

The items were distributed over the last two Christmas seasons to children in the Philippines through the Ateneo de Manila University's Ateneo Center for Education Development, a program that provides support for the public elementary and secondary school system in the Philippines.

ACED is engaged with four elementary schools surrounding the Payatas dumpsite, where some 125,000 residents, including children live off the garbage as scavengers, Rodney Jacobs says.

The couple had visited one school, Lupang Pangako Elementary School, describing it as a "heart-wrenching experience."

"The children we met there were among the most precious children you could ever see and yet we knew that about 40 percent of them were hungry that day," he says. "When they left the school they faced the brutality of living life at the very edge of the Payatas garbage dump. We were told that almost all students were without basic means to learn, like having a pencil and a single sheet of paper on a daily basis."

"It's heartbreaking to see very young children in the streets fending for themselves," says Dina Jacob, who grew up in Manila.

This year, 76/Circle K and the KUAM Care Force have joined the couple in expanding their call to help children living in poverty in the Philippines.

The public is asked to help by donating new and used children's toys, books and school supplies being collected through next week.

"KUAM CAREFORCE and its community partners will just not look the other way," says Marie Calvo-Monge, executive director of the KUAM CAREFORCE. We are so connected to the Philippines and like so many others we feel an urgent need to help - and to help now."

The drive is a compliment to SPPC's Holiday Helping Hands Project, says Mark J. Sablan, SPPC's business development manager, "which is in its 12th year and allows us to reach out to those in need in our region."

How to Help

New and used (in good condition) children's toys, books and school supplies are wanted in support of the Ateneo de Manila University's Ateneo Center for Education Development. The items will go to children living in some of the poorest parts of Manila.

The drive continues through Oct. 25. Drop off points include

All 76 Stations and Circle K Stores
Catholic Social Service
Curves
National Office Supply (Barrigada only)
MedFirst Physicians' Group (Dr. Hidalgos Office)
Academy of Our Lady of Guam
Dededo Mayors Office
Father Duenas Memorial School
KUAM Careforce
Saint Anthony Catholic School