Last updated on September 9, 2022
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How many of you witnessed a group of youth unite, work and cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal?
A non-profit organization, @IShiftPh, is continously making positive change in the Philippines since 2016. Its name, shift, as the Merriam-Webster defined, is “a group of people who work together during a scheduled period of time.” Thus, making it a good name for their cause of giving and helping those in need.
On Saturday of June 15, 2019, we witnessed a beautiful act of giving for the students and teachers of Patar Elementary School at the coast of Bolinao, Pangasinan. IShiftPH called the event Building A New Goal/ Opportunity for Novices (BANGON). With the donations from many good hearted people, they were able to give out school bags, educational supplies, teacher kits, and reading materials. They also brought boxes of snacks as part of their Isang Libong Kalamnan Feeding Program. All of these efforts are for the chosen 50 kids of the said school.
Patar Elementary School currently handles 277 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 with 9 hard-working teachers. On average that is 31 students per teacher. According to the school head, most of the kids has to walk kilometers to get to school. In many days of summer, many endures the heat of the sun and on rainy days, they would arrive soaked by the rain.
One of the teachers also said that in the previous years, some kids would leave to school without eating breakfast at home. Others would not be present for days to help their parents collect woods to sell and for cooking. Clearly, life is not easy for the kids and their family.
During one of our chats on their previous missions, Architect Jeremy Magbanua, the founder of the non-profit organization, mentioned that he and his teams objective is to make the Philippines a better place to live. He also said, “we are planning to have more innovative ways to reach more people and educate them that our country, our environment and our people deserves to be reached out and given appreciation.” Currently, the organization is composed of many young professionals who are willing to spend their time, money, and strength to help and put smile on faces of those in need. They continuously organize feeding program, giving out of educational supply, clean-up drive, and many more activities. If that does not sound big, we don’t know what is.
Join ISHIFTPh on their missions. Contact them through the following:
Jeremy Magbanua, Founder
thebigshiftphilippines@gmail.com
Facebook @IShiftPh
Instagram @IShiftPh
