As this school year opens with the return to face-to-face classes, it is imperative to ensure Filipino children have the capacity to attend their classes no matter the learning set-up. TeamAsia—an integrated marketing experience agency—launches the 14th year of its annual education campaign, My Dream In A Shoebox (MDIAS) to support Filipino children with their educational needs, especially as they go back to onsite schooling.
“As face-to-face classes return, we want to encourage Filipino children across the country that they can still continue their education, may it be in the physical or virtual setting,” said TeamAsia’s Managing Director and MDIAS Chief Dream Builder, Bea Lim. “MDIAS stays true to its commitment of making students’ #BiggerDreams come true by adapting to the changing times and providing support that is relevant to the learning set-up today.”
MDIAS has been partnering with Yellow Boat of Hope (YBH) Foundation—a non-government organization that ensures every child in the Philippines experiences quality education—for seven years. This partnership grew, bringing in more opportunities to help, particularly with the building of e-hubs that started last year. In 2021, MDIAS raised nearly PHP 1 million that funded three e-hubs, sponsored 100 scholars, and provided 1000 Dream Kits.
“We are excited to continue this fruitful partnership with My Dream in A Shoebox. Our organization is committed to reimagine education and see where we can contribute to allow Filipino children to stay in school. We strive to encourage children to continue learning so they discover their abilities and talents that will enable them to reach their dreams, and we are happy to be doing this with TeamAsia’s education campaign as both organization are single-minded in dreaming big and keeping hope alive for the communities we served,” said Dr. Anton Mari H. Lim, Co-Founder of Yellow Boat of Hope.
This year, with its mission to make Filipino children’s #BiggerDreams come true, MDIAS is looking to raise PHP 450,000 to build an e-hub and sponsor 100 more scholars in its partner communities.
The e-hub will be supporting students and teachers by providing access to six laptops, internet connection, and allowance for logistical expenses. The scholars, on the other hand, will be given financial aid for school supplies, transportation, learning modules, hygiene kits, and face masks.
While the return of face-to-face classes marks the country’s recovery and progress beyond the pandemic, it also poses new challenges for children in the Philippines, especially after over two years in blended learning. This includes not having enough classrooms that can accommodate this school year’s enrollees and the safety measures being taken by education institutions to ensure the health of students amid the ongoing pandemic.
MDIAS together with YBH are eager to be of aid to students, parents, and teachers and become a beacon of hope for an undisrupted education where children can still learn and be empowered wherever their classroom is.
Since 2009, MDIAS has been equipping less fortunate Filipino children with educational assistance. It started with a modest collection of 200 shoeboxes from TeamAsia’s industry partners and friends, containing school supplies to inspire children to go to school. Through the years, it has expanded to sponsoring students from various partner communities across the country and impacted as much as 500,000 lives.
If you’re interested to take part in this year’s MDIAS campaign, you may follow these steps to donate:
Step 1: Visit MDIAS website
Step 2: Scroll down and click the ‘Make a Donation’ button.
Step 3: Choose which of the two causes you would like to donate to–Fund an E-Hub or Support a Scholar? You can also choose both!
Step 4: If you wish to fund an E-Hub, you can just input the amount you would like to donate and click ‘Make a Donation’. But if you want to support a scholar or a community, you can only donate PHP2,500 and PHP25,000 respectively.
Step 5: Review your cart and hit ‘Proceed to Checkout’.
Step 6: Fill up the Billing Form, choose your mode of payment, click ‘Place Order’, and you’re done!
“Education is an essential tool for children to thrive. Through MDIAS, we hope that you will help us in supporting Filipino children to learn, build their futures and make their #BiggerDreams come true,” said Lim.