Arvato Group | Quezon City, 01/15/2018

Shoeboxes for Education in the Philippines

Last year, Arvato CRM in the Philippines supported the “My Dream in a Shoebox” campaign  for the fifth time. Since 2009, the initiative has worked to distribute school supplies – packed in shoeboxes – to children living in poverty in the Philippines. Arvato CRM employees filled a total of 1,360 shoeboxes in 2017, and visited 1,000 schoolchildren in the San Pedro Calungsod parish in New Bilibid Muntinlupa just before Christmas.

The “My Dream in a Shoebox” initiative works to fight poverty in the Philippines through education, and for the past five years, Arvato CRM in the Philippines has supported their campaign to distribute shoeboxes filled with school supplies to children living in poverty across the country. Last year, the Arvato employees clearly exceeded their target of 500 shoeboxes: with the help of the staff, a total of 1,360 shoeboxes and around 20,000 Philippine pesos (around €330) were collected, earning Arvato CRM “Silver Sponsor” status last year.

Shortly before Christmas, the employees joined other partners and sponsors in visiting some 1,000 schoolchildren from San Pedro Calungsod parish in New Bilibid Muntinlupa. After a church service, several dance performances by the children, and various games, the Arvato CRM employees presented the filled shoeboxes to the students.

“We Felt Like Santa’s Elves”

“The most heartwarming part was distributing the carefully-wrapped shoeboxes to the children. Even though they were having fun all throughout the event, receiving their gift was the most noteworthy of all.  They were all smiles when they received the shoeboxes, their smiles were even brighter when they opened the boxes and saw the school supplies inside,” Hana Santiago from the Human Resources department at Arvato CRM in the Philippines tells. “We felt like Santa’s elves who traveled from North Pole carrying those gifts for them to have a wonderful Christmas, and for their dreams to be fulfilled.”

Arvato CRM will continue to support “My Dream in a Shoebox” this year. “Our new target is to fill more than 1,500 shoeboxes, because it’s very important to us to support children’s education and help expand their knowledge,” says Hana Santiago.

“My Dream in a Shoebox”

When “My Dream in a Shoebox” was launched in 2009, approximately 200 shoeboxes were packed for Filipino children. Last year, the figure exceeded 75,000. Each box usually contains two notebooks, a drawing pad, various pens, an eraser, a ruler, and glue.

Since it was founded, the initiative, which was launched by the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and the marketing and communications company TeamAsia, has already helped some 116,000 children in the Philippines.