Davao del Norte – Various clubs of Rotary International in Tagum City and DANA Foundation have made known their respective support for the national and the local government effort to recover from the damages brought by the pandemic.
During Kapihan on August 12, representatives from Rotary Club of Tagum, Rotary Club of Tagum North, and the Rotary Club of Tagum Golden L.A.C.E.S (Ladies in Action Committed to Effective Service) as well as DANA Foundation shared their lined-up projects and the services they have completed since the start of COVID19.
According to Rotary Club of Tagum North president, Dr. Mae T. Dalisay, a lot of their support were given to the Education sector.
“Sa Rotary Club of Tagum North, sa pagsugod palang atong Hulyo, nagsugod mi with turnover of schoolbags and school supplies Tapayanon Elementary School sa Kapalong Davao del Norte (For the Rotary Club of Tagum North, just from the start of July, we started with the turnover of schoolbags and school supplies to Tapayanon Elementary School in Kapalong, Davao del Norte),” Dr. Dalisay said.
She added that they have also given two printers to the Local School Board “in support to the students in Tagum City”, and sports equipment to Sitio Tapayanon barangay Gupitan, Kapalong.
Aside from that, they have provided thirty campaign tarpaulins for polio eradication and another thirty tarpaulins for the BIDA campaign.
Similarly, the Rotary Club of Tagum also has its focus on the education sector. Its president, Alex Rubinos, revealed that the club is offering scholarships which have already produced graduates previously.
In addition, the Rotary Club of Tagum has distributed P500,000-worth of rice after ECQ.
“Ang initiative namo after na sa ECQ. Nanghatag mi ug 500,000 pesos-worth of rice ang atoang nahatag all throughout Davao del Norte (Our initiative came after the ECQ. We distributed P500,000- worth of rice all throughout Davao del Norte),” Rubinos said.
He also added that boxes of surgical face mask during the polio vaccination, and campaign T-shirts for BIDA were given.
Rotary Club of Tagum Golden L.A.C.E.S. President, Atty. Judy Marie Rapista-Tan said that during the ECQ in April and May when businesses were closed, members and officers had to find a way to create face shields which they distributed.
“Ang Rotary Club Tagum Golden LACES, bisan pa sa panahon nga di ta makagawas sa atong panimalay [tungod sa ECQ], kami nag sugod na sa mga face shields (The Rotary Club of Tagum Golden LACES, even during ECQ when we couldn’t go outside our homes, we already started distributing face shields),” she said.
Aside from the individual initiatives of each club, with polio eradication being the utmost goal of Rotary Club International, the combined efforts of the three Rotary Clubs in Tagum through their distribution of polio vaccinations reached 110% of their expected target.
Another organization in the civic sector that helped during the crisis is DANA Foundation.
DANA Foundation Executive Director, Nelben Moreno, shared the feeding program contributions made by the foundation along with eight of its partners to the frontliners.
“Katong April nag launch mi ug food ration drive, usa ka programa wherein among gipakaon ang mga frontliners for 30 days. Nagsugod siya atong April 7 nahuman atong May 31 (Last April we launched food ration drive, a program where we fed frontliners for 30 days. It started on April 7 and finished on May 31),” she said.
The foundation’s feeding program benefited 5,500 frontliners, 29 persons under monitoring (PUMs) and 1,953 families.
She added that since business were rough for the small holder farmers at the time, the food that were prepared to feed the beneficiaries were bought from small holder farmers to help them make income.
As for the incoming program of DANA Foundation, there is the “growing food at home”, where employees of their banana plantation will grow vegetable seedlings, which will be distributed to 500 families for planting. (Jan Vincent Leuterio/JMDA)
(Source: PIA-XI)