Coca-Cola turns over its 101st Little Red Schoolhouse to Santa Rosa, Laguna

Coca-Cola Philippines officially turned over its 101st Little Red Schoolhouse (LRS) last February 11, 2013 to a community in Santa Rosa, Laguna.The school is part of the LRS–Silid Pangarap project in partnership with Aklat, Gabay at Aruga Tungo sa Pag-Angat at Pag-Asa (AGAPP) Foundation. This marks the first school turned over by Coca-Cola after celebrating 100 years in the Philippines.

 

“Our mission at Coca-Cola is to refresh the world and inspire moments of happiness. One of the ways we do this for the communities we serve is through education,” said Guillermo Aponte, Chairman of Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines and President and General Manager of Coca-Cola Philippines. “Providing classrooms that Filipino kids need to complete their elementary education gives the next generation the tools to be the country’s future leaders.”

 

The LRS project is a flagship program of the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, the social investment arm of Coca-Cola Philippines. It was launched in 1997 to support the Department of Education’s call for private sector participation in addressing the severe classroom shortage in public schools. Under this project, the Coca-Cola Foundation in partnership with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) builds three-classroom school buildings and provides basic classroom equipment and materials, as well as water systems to public schools in various districts across the country.  

 

In 2011, the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines formed an alliance with AGAPP Foundation, which similarly builds classrooms for pre-school children, to increase the effectiveness of their concerted efforts through the LRS-Silid Pangarap initiative. Unlike a typical LRS that has three classrooms, the LRS-Silid Pangarap is a two-classroom building designed to serve kindergarten students in elementary schools. It also serves as primary grades library, equipped with well-selected books.

 

Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Chairman of the AGAPP Foundation, added, "The success of AGAPP is due mainly to extensive private sector support. With Coca-Cola now on its 101st school, 10 of which are in partnership with AGAPP, our target of 1,000 classrooms by the end of President Aquino's term is fast becoming a reality. Those who have built existing Silid Pangarap units are much appreciated not just for pouring resources into the project but also aiding in nation building."

 

Caingin Elementary School was damaged by a southwest monsoon (habagat) in August 2012. The school was flooded for months and only recently opened again for classes. The turnover of the school was made all the more special not only by its symbolic recovery from the floods but also by the fact that it was partly funded by company associates from Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines.

 

“We would like to thank the donors of this school,” said Hereberto Miranda, SDS, from DepEd. “The donation is timely due to the need for more classrooms in the country. To the parents, teachers of Caingin Elementary School as well as to our community leaders here – this is the second home of the children. We hope that we can all work together to take care of this school.”

 

“Building schools is part of the commitment of Coca-Cola Philippines to the country,” said Adel Tamano, Vice President for Public Affairs & Communications for Coca-Cola Philippines. “That commitment also includes providing 35,000 school kids with Nutrijuice through its in-school iron supplement program, installing 100 Agos Ram Pump water systems, and empowering 100,000 women sari-sari store owners through the Coke-TESDA S3STAR Program in 2013. We do all of these to thank the Filipino people for trusting the brand, and accepting Coca-Cola in their homes.” 

 

Apart from the 101 completed school buildings in 57 cities and provinces throughout the country, the Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines will build 21 more schools in 2013. Press release and photo from Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines