ASEAMETRICS employees, putting their hats on as the Rotary Club of Makati City Diamond (RCMCD), the first corporate Rotary club in the country, turned over seven vertical garden structures, gardening tools and materials, and vegetable seeds to the officials, teachers, parents and schoolchildren of the Don Bosco Elementary School (DBES) in Paranaque last Monday, February 6, 2023 in simple but meaningful ceremonies.
The turnover ceremony was spearheaded by Liza Manalo-Mapagu, ASEAMETRICS President & CEO who is concurrently the charter president of the RCMCD and other officers and members of the club. Also in attendance were PSDS District IV Dr. Nelita F. Belena, DBES Principal Desiree B. Arriola, Dr. Antonio L. Layacan, and the teachers, parents, and pupils of the school. Also in attendance were RCMCD officers and members Mir Mapagu, Ching Abello, Bong Austero, Mark Flores, Hannah Alvarez, Olivher Mendoza, Gabriel Martin, Eryn Cadapan, and Charles Benoza.
The vertical garden is in line with the Gulayan Sa Paaralan initiative of the Rotary Club of Makati City Diamond. The RCMCD embraced the project since sustainability and regeneration are important advocacies of ASEAMETRICS. Since DBES has limited area for gardening, the construction of a vertical garden was pursued. The design, construction, and monitoring of the construction was led by Mir Mapagu, Service Coordinator of RCMCD. The DBES vertical garden is envisioned to become a showcase of innovative urban gardening practices while instilling important values among school children.
In her turnover remarks, Mapagu stressed the importance of fostering collaborative partnerships to provide for the various developmental needs of school children. She stressed that building the vertical gardens is just an initial project. During the turnover ceremony, she announced that the RCMCD will be officially adopting the school as the recipient of its various service projects. RCMCD will be spearheading a reading activity for the school children on February 18, 2023. Other projects are being studied for implementation.
For her part, the school Principal Desiree B. Arriola, expressed the school’s sincere appreciation to the RCMCD and ASEAMETRICS for selecting DBES as the beneficiary of its service projects. She recounted the journey that the school underwent to get the attention of Rotary Clubs, and how they were grateful that RCMCD picked their school.
Division Supervisor Dr. Nelita F. Belena on the other hand reminded the schoolchildren about the importance of gardening and protecting the environment in developing the correct national values.
The school children that were present during the turnover ceremony expressed excitement and happiness at the opportunity to plant and nurture vegetables within their school.
The RCMCD was chartered in 2022 as the first corporate Rotary Club in the Philippines and possibly the second corporate Rotary Club in the world. A corporate club is a new model of employee engagement as it harnesses the power of the Rotary spirit to drive and inspire community service. As a corporate Rotary club, RCMCD expenses are shouldered by ASEAMETRICS as an important component of its employee engagement budget. By embracing the Rotary spirit, ASEAMETRICS employees find a higher purpose and meaning in their professional lives.
