Education – A Priority at PRO-FRIENDS

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Indeed, it is. Changing for the better is everyone’s dream. And Property Company of Friends Inc (PRO-FRIENDS) believes in change, in transformation of lives through the creation of communities and through supporting education.

As part of its corporate social responsibility, Profriends value education and manifests it through outreach programs and the development of St. Edward Integrated School.

In 2012, Pro Friends carried out its mission of transforming lives through participating in BRIGADA ESKWELA. It helped improve the condition of one of the public schools in Pavia, Iloilo – the town where its two projects exist namely the Parc Regency Residences and the Monticello Villas. Now, the new Parc Regency Greens also exist.

Aside from repairing the local public school and donating two more classrooms, PCFI volunteers also brought reference books for the school library and participated in a storytelling session. Hopefully, it would help children to embrace reading and learning more. Planting vegetables in the school garden would also help students have a healthier diet.

Just this May, Profriends joined again this year’s BRIGADA ESKWELA. One of the public schools in Tanza, Cavite was repaired and a classroom was donated along with a computer set, sewing machine, and books.

 And the support for education went on. Partnering with the Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc, PCFI donated e-learning facilities to public schools in Cavite, Pampanga, and Iloilo. These e-learning facilities consist of a netbook pre-loaded with K-Channel educational videos, 32-inch LCD TV, optical mouse, external speakers, and automatic voltage regulator. The heads of these schools open-heartedly wrote letters and reached out to the foundation in order to enable teaching students through modern means.

St. Edward Integrated School was built and opened in 2012. Supervised by Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association Inc, St. Edward accepts students from PCFI communities and non-PCFI communities. Grades 1-4 and 1st to 2nd year high school students are currently accepted. Another building was added in February of this year to house 32 more classrooms, speech lab, mini auditorium, computer laboratory, computer hardware servicing laboratory, and cafeteria.

Continuing its endeavor in supporting education, a kids’ art contest was held and the awarding ceremony was held at Leighton Hall just last June 15. PCFI sponsored it and students of St. Edward Integrated School attended and participated. The theme of the contest was “Transforming the world into a better place.” It was greatly communicated through the different art entries that were put into a mini exhibit for everyone to see. Winner received gift certificates from National Bookstore, a very befitting prize in order to support their learning.

Education is supposed to be a right but unfortunately, it has become a privilege. It is a sad reality. But there will always be that ray of hope in the form of kind hearts and selfless initiative. There will always be someone or some people who would try to make a difference no matter how big or how small. It’s glad to know that a big company like Profriends is one of them.