Troops ready shoebox project for holidays

LUCENA CITY—After the success of their “Project Shoebox,” soldiers from the Army’s 4th Light Armor Battalion (LAB) and their partners on Tuesday launched “Noche Buena Mo, Nasa Shoebox Ko” to brighten up the holidays for 5,000 indigent families in remote areas in the country.

Lt. Col. Thomas Sedano Jr., head of the Army’s 4th LAB, said this early soldiers are appealing for donors for the latest shoebox project of his unit.

Sedano said the initial target are 5,000 beneficiaries.

The project was initially spurred by the success of Project Shoebox which was able to collect school supplies and other items for distribution to schoolchildren in some of the country’s remotest and most impoverished areas.

The Alpha Sigma sorority at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños helped in the project.

In March, the 4th LAB headquarters in Camp Guillermo Nakar here was flooded with shoeboxes and school supplies after the Inquirer came up with a story on the novel undertaking. Sedano said from the original target of 1,000 beneficiaries, the project has reached 81 schools in 10 provinces in Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions, benefiting 15,400 poor students.

He said the project has distributed at least P1.2 million worth of school supplies and personal care items.

The 4th LAB opened a Facebook page, “Masigasig Project Shoebox,” to solicit support and donations.