MANILA, Philippines - USANA True Health Foundation Philippines, the local corporate social responsibility arm of US-based nutritional products manufacturer USANA Health Sciences Inc. (USANA), recently partnered with education advocacy group Cornerstone in a bid to make education more accessible to children, especially in poor communities.
Cornerstone is a joint initiative of Couples for Christ (CFC), ANCOP, the Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to help students in the primary and secondary levels perform better in school through reading tutorials and values formation and Christian leadership and values formation, among others.
USANA executive vice president of field development for the Pacific region David Mulham said that while True Health Foundation is ready to extend its resources to help victims and local government units in times of emergency and calamity, the team wanted a way to give back to the community without waiting for disasters to happen.
“Waiting for something bad to happen is not necessarily where the foundation is,” he said. “We are moving into a space now where we got a program that we, our associates particularly, can go to the communities, whether it’s here, in Cebu, or in Davao.”
Through the partnership, USANA True Health Foundation will make the program more accessible to underprivileged children in communities all over the country. “We do a lot of sports programs. We help out the community in terms of raising funds. I had a lot of associates who donated a lot of things for Cornerstone, although they never like to mention their name,” shared USANA Philippines general manager Duday Gaston.
Cornerstone sector coordinator Sulpicio Confiado feels very blessed and privileged because of the partnership, saying that this will allow them to promote education among the youth on a wider scale.
“We truly believe that helping these little children will have a considerable impact on the future and the welfare of their families, because we’re looking at families composed of five to seven members, and with partners like USANA we are quite confident that we would be able to fulfill this mission that has been entrusted to us,” said Confiado.
“When you hear the results of the work that they’re doing, and the way that impacts just one family, we just know it’s the right direction for us. I think in the long term, if seeing children in your own community enhancing their education and developing skills that will carry them through for the rest of their lives, I couldn’t think of a better way for us to do,” Mulham concluded.