Students to raise funds for charity

The Business Communication class of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business-Cebu campus will raise P500,000 through their “A Bag of Dreams” charity campaign project.

The 2,407 pupils of San Roque Elementary School in Talisay City, Cebu, will benefit from the campaign, which was launched last month in partnership with the Cebu Arts Foundation Inc.

“A Bag of Dreams campaign supports every child’s right to proper education. We aim to raise money to provide these children tools for education. We ask for everyone’s support in this charitable advocacy,” said class project co-leader Samsam Gullas.

The school reportedly has the most number of pupils from kindergarten to grade 6 who belong to low-income families. It was also reported that the lack of school supplies pushes most of these children to drop out of school.

As part of their campaign, the group is selling “Dream” rubber wristbands online for P180 at their Facebook “A Bag of Dream Campaign” page.

“Buying one band means giving a child one bag to fulfill his dreams and a chance to a better life,” said Gullas.

John Rey Guadalquiver, also co-leader of the class project, said the P500,000 target  fund will not come from the sale of the wristbands alone and generous donors. He said each class member will tap their network to encourage sponsors and corporations to share the same advocacy on respective corporate social responsibility programs.

“Our subject is about effectively communicating to various groups, organizations, private companies and corporations. We’re happy to come up with a project that would not only allow us to apply what we’ve learned inside the class but also give us the opportunity to help the community in need,” said Guadalquiver.

The group initially aims to provide school bags and basic educational supplies such as pencils, ballpens, notebooks, pad papers and crayons, among others.

However, the group is also looking at providing proper school desks if the campaign raises more funds.

“Your donations will go a long way in shaping the kids’ future one bag at a time,” said Gullas.

For donations, write a check to Cebu Arts Foundation Inc. One can also deposit cash to Unionbank at account number 002750000380, with account name Gerald Anthony Gullas. For further information, call 09173253573, 09173250051 and 09334486371 or visit their Facebook page.