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http://visayandailystar.com/2016/March/01/people.htm
A Negros-based non government organization’s corporate partner bagged an award Saturday, acknowledging the non-profit group’s pivotal role in designing and implementing the program.
British American Tobacco (Philippines) Limited’s Hope Floats for Yolanda Survivors received a silver trophy in the annual Anvil Awards at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City Saturday, Abigail Ho, the firm’s External Affairs manager, said .
“Its triumph is the triumph of everyone in the BAT organization worldwide and of NVC (Negrense Volunteers for Change) as well,” she said.
Hope Floats for Yolanda Survivors was funded by donations from BAT employees worldwide and matched by the company shortly after the typhoon Yolanda disaster in November 2013.
The Anvil Awards competition is conducted annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines, and the awardees are selected by a multi-sectoral jury.
NVC, the local partner, incorporated the assistance from BAT in its existing programs. These were NVC’s Peter Project, that provides motorized fishing boats for fishermen who lost theirs to natural disasters, and Project Joseph, which helps skilled men and women in poor communities, providing them with a tool of trade that will eventually help them augment their income for their families, Ho said.
The assistance from British American Tobacco allowed NVC to construct two livelihood centers called Sentrong Pag-asa, provide 80 motorized boats, 50 fishing nets, 10 pedicabs, and three tricycles, she said.
They were also able to provide materials for the repair of 30 houses that were affected by the typhoon’s fury. A Bigasan Center engaged in the trading of rice and other commodities, managed by women Yolanda survivors, was also funded from the grant, as well as the establishment of a bakery operated by a family, Ho said.
The firm’s assistance was spread across three provinces – Leyte, Eastern Samar and Biliran – three of the hardest hit by typhoon Yolanda.
As of end of 2015, NVC’s Peter Project had provided 4,710 motorized fishing boats to disaster-stricken communities, in addition to 40 they had earlier provided to fishermen’s helpers, before typhoon Yolanda, its president, Millie Kilayko, said.
Project Joseph, on the other hand, had provided 240 tools for various livelihoods by year end. Kilayko said corporate partners, such as British American Tobacco, as well as individual donors from sources worldwide, made it possible for them to assist nine of the provinces most affected by the typhoon, she added.