Kid Movement Brings New Hope to Tacloban Schools

It all started with kids’ vision to make a difference. They expressed their desire to save Mother Earth in the hopes of creating a world that would benefit the future generation.

And that change journeyed to the typhoon Yolanda-stricken Tacloban. A group of empowered Filipino kids went to Tacloban to give 2,000 recycled classroom chairs. This is the product of their first-ever mission dubbed, Project RecyClass. By collecting recycled packs, kids will bring to other children of the hard-hit province new hope. With these new chairs, empowered kids can help other children to get back to school and learn to rise again.

Launched in 2013, Project RecyClass was a nationwide recycling drive supported by the Department of Education (DepEd). It was born out of a survey conducted by Tang, the leading fruit powdered beverage brand in the Philippines that revealed saving the environment is the issue closest to kids’ hearts.

The survey, done in the second quarter of 2013, explored the aspirations of the more than 95,000 young members of the Tang Galing Club. This is an online interactive community that promotes kid empowerment; helping inspire Filipino children to go and contribute positive change for the betterment of the society.

“This project was able to prove that kids can actually uplift lives, if only empowered to do so. Now the road of empowerment leads us to Tacloban. We are moved to witness how a kid-led movement is about to change lives by providing hope to the future of our country—our children,” said Alex Tacderas, Mondelez Philippines Category Lead for Powdered Beverages.

By the kids and for the kids, Project RecyClass, also accomplished in partnership with the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, was able to collect a total of 11.6 million pieces of recyclable foil packs from 50 barangays across the country. These were then used to make 10,000 sturdy plastic school chairs (via a technology available in the Philippines), aiming to supplement the need for them in classrooms.

“The chairs that will be donated will help get kids back to school, helping create a sense of normalcy in their daily lives after Super Typhoon Yolanda. The chairs will also create a difference in the way students will sit in class, replacing broken and potentially hazardous chairs,” Tacderas added.

With 2,000 classroom chairs allocated to Tacloban, 8,000 more will be donated to different beneficiary schools across the country in partnership with the DepEd’s Adopt-a-school Program.

Last year, Tang donated 50 chairs to Sampaloc Site II Elementary School in Paranaque City, an adopted school of Mondelez Philippines. This year, the brand is scheduled to turnover more chairs to at least 100 other public school beneficiaries.

“Project RecyClass has truly been one of the largest kid movements of its kind in the Philippines. And we are starting the year with its promise—empowering kids to make a difference that can benefit the generations to come,” Tacderas ends.

For more information about the Tang Galing Club and Project Recyclass, please visit www.TangGalingClub.com and its Facebook account, www.facebook.com/TangPhilippines.

LITTLE PRESIDENT’S LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT Writing Contest

Hey Empowered Kids!

Got something to say to our President? Do you want to help him make a change in the lives of our countrymen?

Here is your chance to write President Benigno Aquino III through a contest titled, LITTLE PRESIDENT’S LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT. This will allow you to share your ideas and what you are presently doing to make a difference for your country.

This contest is open to all students, aged 9-12. The entry should be a 1-page letter with 1.5 spacing, in English or Filipino and should include the sender’s complete name, home address, grade level and school name.

You can send your letter to tanggalingclubph@gmail.com. Deadline of submission is on or before July 17.

Winning entry will be published in The Philippine Daily Inquirer on the day of the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22. Aside from a Tang gift pack, Tang will make a donation in the amount of PhP 30,000 to winner’s choice of cause.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for your views to be heard by the President. So write your letter now and be an instrument of change!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Write a letter to President Benigno Aquino III telling him how as an empowered kid, you would like to be part of the “Daang Matuwid” in your own way. This will allow you to share your ideas and what you are presently doing to make a difference for your country.

2. Letter format and requirements: • 1 page, 1.5 spacing

• English/Filipino

• Open to 9-12 years old, Male/Female

• 1 letter entry per person

• Include Name, Complete Address, Grade Level, School, Parents’ Names and Contact Details

• Participants must have their parent’s consent to join this contest

3. Send your letters to tanggalingclubph@gmail.com

4. Deadline of submission is on July 17, Wednesday

• Winning entry will be published in Philippine Daily Inquirer on the day of PNoy’s SONA on July 22, 2013. Aside from a Tang gift pack, Tang will make a donation in the amount of Php30,000 to winner’s choice of cause.

5. All qualified letters will be judged by Mondelez Philippines, Inc. (MPI). Letters will be judged according to the following criteria: [KFL1]

Content- 25%

Relevance to the theme -25%

Originality -25%

Style and Tone – 25%

6. The letter that receives the highest score wins the contest.

Pinoy Kids Activate New Movement for Kid Empowerment

Filipino kids are on the move to change the world as Tang Philippines intensifies its advocacy for kid empowerment through the launch of Tang Galing Club Virtual World, which will be holding its first-ever clubhouse meeting for the growing number of active children who have pledged to take part in making a difference through recycling.



The Tang Galing Club Virtual World provides a real-life “gamified” experience of how kids can go and contribute change to the world. With the use of fun and interactive activities online, it allows them to envision and realize that inside everyone of them is a hero waiting to be unleashed.

“We believe that by tapping the ideals of the Filipino children, we can start pushing for greater changes in society. That is why Tang, the Philippines most consumed flavored beverage in the household, decided to invest in an advocacy program which aims to empower kids and tap their heroism through Tang Galing Club,” said Alex Tacderas, Kraft Foods Philippines’ category marketing manager for Beverages.

The Club’s first real-life mission is the recycling drive called, Project RecyClass. This project aims to empower children to collect used foil packs, which will be recycled to make flood-proof plastic school chairs via a technology that is available in the Philippines. These chairs will soon be donated to selected public schools in Metro Manila, aiming to supplement the need for them in classrooms.

The mission was brought about by the recent findings of the online survey conducted by the Tang Galing Club (www.TangGalingClub.com), which revealed that 50 percent of its young members consider “caring for the environment” as the issue closest to their hearts.

Of this, Alex said, “Recycling is a good thing to do, especially for kids. It makes them feel good to do it. By instilling that kind of mentality at a very young age, the more they become serious and feel empowered to do great things.”

In the Philippines, it is reported that around 4.6 million kilos of plastic waste are generated every day, with a significant portion of it coming from packaging materials, such as plastic foils and containers.

Through Project RecyClass, Tang and the Tang Galing Kids aim to help address this environmental concern by reducing waste foil packs and by saving trees, since it takes three full-grown trees to create a single school chair.

“Our dedication to the country goes beyond the products and brands that we offer. We want to make a difference. And with this recycling drive, we will be able to reuse our foil packs, instead of cutting trees, to make thousands of plastic classroom chairs,” Tacderas explained.

“But the real change happens with our empowered kids. Through this advocacy, we will be able to awaken the real heroes in them and soon show the world just how great they can be,” he added.

For more information about the Tang Galing Club and Project RecyClass, please visit www.TangGalingClub.com and its Facebook account, www.facebook.com/TangPhilippines