Baguio City, Benguet –A total of three thousand six hundred thirty eight (3,638) toys that will be distributed to 3-6 year old Pantawid children beneficiaries region wide have been turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) – Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on 14 January 2016.
“We are thankful (to you) for remembering our vulnerable sector” says DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations Marygrail B. Dong-as when she accepted the donations coming from the SM Store.
The donations were made possible through the Share-A-Toy program of the SM Corporation.It aims to extend help to our less privileged communities by giving new and pre-loved toys from the SM Store mainly from Toy Kingdom and Toy Express. It is an annual drive that started in 2012 in NCR, which starts every 2nd day of November to the 31st day of Decemberthen simultaneously in all branches of SM nationwide since then.
Under the Public-Private Partnership of the DSWD, the Department’s engagement with SM Corporation started in 2014 when SM City Baguio donated toys to DSWD which were then agreed to be given to the Day Care Centers all over the region with the most number of Pantawid children beneficiaries.
Public-Private Partnership is part of the Government’s mandate which aims to build and sustain partnerships with Civil Society Organization’s (CSOs) and similar entities having the capacity to provide resources and expertise that could support the DSWD’s implementation of programs and services. DSWD underscores the role of the CSOs under “bantay”, “gabay”, “tulay” at “kaagapay” categories.
Meanwhile, DSWD-CAR Regional Director Janet P. Armas asked potential partners to coordinate with the Department for possible engagement. “We acknowledge the important role of our partner stakeholders in the success of our program implementation. It would be our privilege to work with them to ensure that we are providing the best services to the Cordilleran people”, Dir. Armas added. #DSWD-CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, PHYLEIN MARIA ROSETTE U. CALLANGAN
