To provide aid to flooding victims in the Philippines, Tan Siu Lin Foundation recently donated boxes of grocery items to the LBC donation drive which officially concluded yesterday.
The charitable arm of the Tan Holdings group of companies purchased $1,500 worth of groceries from Dickerson & Quinn and Cosmos Distributing Co.
Items included General Mills cereals such as Cocoa Puffs, Golden Grahams, Trix, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch; Hormel Compleats; Campbell's Chicken Gravy; Mini Chips Ahoy; Spam; Prego Sauce; Bombay Select Apple Juice; Beech-Nut Baby Food; and Trident Splash Peppermint Swirl.
On behalf of the TSL Foundation, Cosmos operations manager Ladyvir Canape and D&Q general manager Max Kretzers presented the donation to LBC Mabuhay Saipan manager Valentino Gatchalian and United Filipino Organization president Bong Malasarte at their Warehouse last Aug. 30.
“We recommended the cereals because they're healthy and they're ready-to-eat food,” explained Canape. “When they receive the cereals, they can eat them right away. They really come in handy for those who are staying in relocation areas since they have limited access to a kitchen.”
Cosmos and D&Q both gave the grocery items at a discounted rate to allow TSL Foundation to purchase and donate more to the victims.
“People need help, and we need to help them,” said Kretzers, adding that they are always willing to assist the foundation in its efforts to give relief to those who need it.
LBC Mabuhay Saipan, which has branches in Susupe and Garapan, agreed to receive in-kind donations until Aug. 31 and ship them for free to the Philippine Red Cross to help the flood-stricken residents in the northern Philippines.
While the donation drive had been successful, most of the items that LBC collected for the initiative were used clothing. Thursday's donation of non-perishable items was the first of its kind, according to Gatchalian.
On Aug. 24, another Tan Holdings affiliate, Kanoa Resort Saipan, donated over a thousand unused white shirts to the donation drive.
“We thank the TSL Foundation for acting on our appeal for food items to the flooding victims. We appreciate your support to our donation drive and rest assured that all donations will be handed over to the Philippine Red Cross,” Gatchalian told Saipan Tribune.
He disclosed that as of Thursday, LBC has received 20 boxes worth of clothing and other donated items, excluding the groceries donated by the foundation.
“By Sept. 5, we hope to load all donations to our container and have them shipped out. Red Cross will receive them anytime between Oct. 5 and 15,” added Gatchalian.
Malasarte of UFO, which has supported LBC's donation drive and also conducted its own fundraiser for the Philippine victims, called for volunteers to help the cargo forwarding company to sort donated items, particularly clothing, today at the LBC Susupe location.
“We want to say thank you to all those who generously gave their donations. This time, we encourage anyone who's willing to help us in this final task before we get these items shipped out to Red Cross for distribution,” he said.
To volunteer or for more information, call 234-9013.
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