A year after the liberation of Marawi, The SM Store continues to assist families affected by the siege through its Donate-A-Book, Give the Gift of Wellness, and Share Your Extras campaigns.
In a series of ceremonial turnovers held recently at SM CDO Uptown, boxes of clothes, slippers, books, notebooks, school supplies, Safeguard soaps, and hygiene packs from SM Shoppers were officially turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 12 for the benefit of the Marawi community.
“Marawi was chosen as the beneficiary of all our CSR donations this year because of the devastation the city went through,” said Ma. Cecilia Abreu, The SM Store vice president for operations and CSR head.
Abreu added, “Through the donations coming from our customers, we hope that somehow SM can help Marawi residents in their everyday lives and communicate to them that there are a lot of fellow Filipinos who care for them so much.”
During the onsite distribution of donations in Marawi City, families were all smiles, filled with hope and excitement as they received the donations.
For Donate-A-Book, 3,650 boxes of books, notebooks, and school supplies were turned over to the kids of Marawi community.
Give the Gift of Wellness, on the other hand, distributed over 16,000 bundles of Safeguard soaps; while the Share Your Extras campaign had 295 boxes filled with assorted wares, slippers, and hygiene packs to help Marawi families in their everyday sanitary needs.
The Marawi siege [was] very destructive to the Maranao people especially [when] much of their livelihood was lost,” said Noraidah Busran, DSWD regional project coordinator.
“The SM Store was a big help to a lot of people, especially in the Sarimanok evacuation area. The smile and happiness of the people are priceless.”