PATULOY ang Ayala group sa pagbibigay ng tulong sa mga kumonidad na lubos na naapektuhan ng pandemya. Magsasagawa ng 12-week food distribution ang #BrigadangAyala Kaakay sa Metro Manila, kung saan 10,000 pamilya o 500,000 indibidwal ang matutulungan.

“I personally find it hard to celebrate the Christmas season knowing we have fellow Filipinos barely able to eat. None of us can solve the problem by ourselves, but each one in his own small way can help,” ani Rene Almendras, Senior Managing Director at Public Affairs Group Head ng Ayala Corporation.

“We hope to support breadwinners who lost their source of income or who has been on job rotation due to the pandemic. Many of them now have less than P200 pesos a day to survive on, and they are forced to stretch that to support a family of five. It’s now common to see former kargadors, jeepney drivers, and service staff who have succumbed to mendicancy after they have lost their source of income. These are the people we want to help rebound by being their kaakay,” dagdag ni Almendras.

Ang bawat pamilya ay makakatanggap ng isang linggong supply na bigas, gulay, delata, at tinapay mula sa #BrigadangAyala Kaakay. Ipapamahagi ito kada linggo simula November 2021 hanggang February 2022.

Ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority, tumaas ng 8.9% ang unemployment rate ng bansa noong September 2021. May katumbas ito na 4.25M Pilipino. Samantala, 6.18M naman mula sa 43.59M employed Filipinos ang underemployed. Karamihan ay nasa ilalim ng skeleton workforce kung kaya’t pilit nilang pinagkakasaya ang kanilang sahod para makaraos ng ilang araw. Ang iba naman ay tumatanggap na lang ng sahod na mas mababa kumpara noong wala pang pandemya. Ang mga grupong napapabilang dito ang ibig akayin ng #BrigadangAyala Kaakay.

Kasama ng #BrigadangAyala Kaakay ang on-ground implementing partners nito gaya ng Virlanie Foundation, Caritas Manila, National Council for Social Development, at iba pang host barangays. Ang bigas na kanilang ipapamahagi ay mula sa mga rice farmers ng Isabela (Regions 2 & 3), habang ang mga gulay naman ay mula sa Benguet at CAR-based farmers. Mula naman sa TESDA community-based bread-baking project na kinabibilangan ng urban poor moms ang ipinapamigay na tinapay na kasama sa mga food packs.

“The Ayala Group through Ayala Foundation will provide food for 10,000 families for the next three months to help them get through the present difficulties and hopefully go back to regular working schedules or other means of livelihood thereafter. Working together with our business units and local communities for the good of the country is part of Ayala Foundation’s DNA. This is why #BrigadangAyala Kaakay provides us a wonderful opportunity to assist families through supplemental feeding. We hope that through this program, we are able to help thousands of Filipino families in a practical and meaningful way,” ani Ruel Maranan, Ayala Foundation President.

“Ayala has and will always be the Filipinos’ kaakay for the greater good. We live up to our purpose of improving lives by responsibly responding to the needs of all our stakeholders and make a lasting impact to communities, to our country, and to the environment. That’s Ayala’s core, a promise we strive to fulfill with every project and decision we make. In fact, Kaakay is not just an effort among Ayala’s business units. Even employees are chipping in from their own pockets and volunteering so we can do more and reach more people,” dagdag ni Maranan.

Ang #BrigadangAyala ay ang sama-samang pagtugon ng mga kompanya ng Ayala Group sa pagpapahayag sa halos dalawang siglong commitment nito sa national development sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang uri ng social development at corporate social responsibility initiatives – mula disaster relief and response, public education assistance, championing of social enterprises, public health advocacy, atbp.

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