Ateneo, Kaya Natin! launch donation portal for poor students

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Whether in two “gives” or three “gives,” what matters is that Filipinos from around the world give their share.

Good governance movement Kaya Natin! and Ateneo de Manila University this week launched an online donation portal hoping to raise  funds for the education of selected college students and the health insurance of indigent families.

The movement coined the project’s name to mean two things: the common meaning of “give,” which is to share or donate, and the Filipino slang for payment by installment, or the hulog-hulog scheme.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, both Kaya Natin! founding members, on Wednesday led the launch of Kaya Natin! Gives (https://gives.kayanatin.org), a “one-stop” online donation portal aiming to encourage Filipinos to “chip in” to support deserving scholars and poor families.

“You just sit in front of the computer, choose which scholar to help or which family you’d like to support then donate right there,’’ said Harvey Keh, Kaya Natin! convenor. “What we want is to make it convenient for every Filipino to help, fostering bayanihan (cooperation) online.”

Beneficiaries

“If everybody helps, we can already help someone finish college or enable a family attain health insurance coverage for one year. We want every Filipino to now be involved in nation-building,” Keh said.

The project will initially benefit 15 college students either in their third or fourth year in school and selected from less-privileged villages around the Ateneo campus in Quezon City.

Kaya Natin! aims to raise P8,000 for each student to cover their school expenses—books, school projects, transportation and food—for a year.

Some 15 indigent families from Cabiao, Nueva Ecija province, the constituency of Kaya Natin! member Mayor Gloria Congco, have been selected as the first batch of recipients of health coverage assistance.

Yuppies, too

Each family will be provided P2,500 for a year’s health insurance coverage under state-run PhilHealth.

Donors may give P200, P500, P1,000 or P2,000 and have “control over when, how and how often” he or she will give.  Donations may be sent through online banking, debit or credit cards.

“This means you can give many ‘gives,’ not just once.  The ordinary citizen could help not just in terms of giving money but in fulfilling the obligation to help,” Robredo said.

Anticipating many Filipinos will pitch in, Padaca said the movement was already preparing the next batch of beneficiaries.

100 scholars this year

The project aims to provide assistance to 100 scholars and families this year, Keh said.

“What’s important for people who donate is whether or not they can trust the organization [handling their donations]. We are confident enough that Kaya Natin! can be trusted,” Padaca said.

“We are not just counting on corporate sponsors. We are looking at getting the participation of yuppies (young professionals), barkada (circle of friends) and families,” she said.