The SM Store’s annual Donate a Book drive pooled around 150,000 books this year, bringing the joy of learning to 130 schools and communities across the country and indeed going a long way—as far as the last-mile communities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) province of Lanao del Norte.
The reading and learning materials donated via SM City Cagayan De Oro were gifted to the school children from three of the farthest communities in BARMM: Pindolonan Elementary School in Tugaya, Gacap Primary School in Kapai, and Udalo Elementary School in Piagapo.
In partnership with the Department of Education’s Division of Lanao Del Sur-1 and Arkat Lawanen, the turnover ceremonies with storytelling sessions were led by Supervisor Sahaya M. Sarangani and OIC-SDS Dr. Sahanee M. Sumagayan, PhD.
The SM Store’s Donate A Book program started in 2015 and has collected almost one million reading and learnings materials for the benefit of public schools, youth organizations, and communities around the country.