Airline backs PBSP, plants mangroves in Olango Island

Airline backs PBSP, plants mangroves in Olango Island
Cebu Daily News
September 3, 2010

Cathay Pacific employees spent a weekend in Olango Island enjoying a day out with co-workers and helping out the community.

Lapu-Lapu City employees from Cathay Pacific Cargo Philippines joined volunteers of U-Freight Philippines, Vascor Cebu, Centurion Security Agency, TGC, Kwe, DHL and YAS in planting 1,000 mangrove trees with the Grade 1 pupils of Poo Elementary School.

The activity was organized by the company with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP).

PBSP aims to conserve Olango's marine resources by planting more than 25,000 mangroves in a year with the help from corporate sponsors and volunteers.

The activity also aimed to teach the pupils on the protection of the coastal environment by involving them in the activity.

The companies also helped improve the education standards of Poo Elementary School.

Cathay Pacific manager Camila Taylor, Centurion Security vice president for finance Jasmine Pages and DHL vice president for the Visayas and Mindanao JC Cergneux led their employees in distributing school supplies to the pupils, which included bags, notebooks, pencils, sharpeners and crayons.

“We are very happy that they spent their time to come to our school and give school supplies for my child. Now I can save more money to spend for his other needs,” said Cheryl Fernando, 28, mother of 6-year-old Rainier.

For Rainier, the school supplies are gifts from heaven.

“I never had this many school supplies before. I didn't expect people to help my mother buy school supplies for me because we live very far from the city (of Lapu-Lapu). I thank them for helping us; now I know I can study better because I have notebooks and pencils I can use for writing notes and doing my assignments,” said Rainier.

Employees also sent personalized greeting cards for the children to encourage them to study hard and engaged in story-telling with the children.

Books and other reading materials were also donated for the school's library.

Taylor said that the company will continue to look for more venues for social development projects in Cebu.