EastMinCom appeals for more donors for ‘Project School Box’

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
The 10th Infantry Division of Eastern Mindanao Command (10th ID EastMinCom) is appealing for more donors for its “Project Shoebox.”
In an interview, 10th ID Civil Military Operations assistant chief of staff Lieutenant Colonel Norman Zuniega told EDGE Davao that his unit is asking the business sector to donate school supplies that will be placed in shoe boxes that will be delivered to schoolchildren in the hinterlands who have no school materials up to now.
“It will depend on the donors what school materials they will put inside the box. (It can be) any school materials like pencils, ball pens, notebooks, erasers, and others. They may put slippers or shoes,” Zuniega said.
He said donors can also give school bags since there are children in the remote areas who do not have them. “They can place the school materials inside the school bags,” he said.
Zuniega said he presented the project to the Davao China Town Development Council last Tuesday to gain donors from the Filipino-Chinese community.
He he was told that the council will donate school supplies for children in far-flung areas in the city such as Paquibato District and Marilog District.
The 10th ID launched “Project Shoe Box” last Monday at the headquarters of Task Force Davao at Sta. Ana Wharf, Davao City.
10th ID commander Major General Eduardo M Año said the project aims to provide school materials for school children in depressed areas.
Año said the program has already donated 36,088 school kits so far.
Año said it also provides the school children the encouragement to study and develop their dreams. The project does not just provide but inspires them that men in uniform and different stakeholders of the country give priority to their right to education, he added.
The project was participated in by different organizations and individuals such as the Philippine Army, Children’s Hour, Kiwanis International, Unifrutti Phils Inc., Davao Travel Agencies Association, Geodetic Engineers of the Philippines, Motor Riders Association, NCCC Mall Davao, Fraternal Order of Eagle, and Davao City Chamber of Commerce.