Volunteerism powers CSR programs of Meralco

MANILA, Philippines - For other people, 23 years might seem like a very long time to work for the same company. Not to Gina Namoc.

As account coordinator at Meralco, Gina seems very content and happy. “I love working here at Meralco,” she says. “I don’t consider working here as merely a job because the company has always treated us very well.”

Gina is only one of the thousands of employees at the major utility company who has nothing but praises to describe Meralco. Meralco, after all, boasts of a clean track record when it comes to taking care and providing for its employees. More than that, Meralco’s generosity extends to the community it serves as evident in its various CSR projects – something that the employees find very encouraging and inspiring, so much so they actually volunteer their time and effort and participate wholeheartedly.

Meralco has been yearly celebrating its Employees’ Week and Anniversary to honor the employees who have dedicated their lives for the organization. As part of the Anniversary celebration, an outreach activity dubbed “FUN-tastic Friendship Fair” has been implemented since 2007, where kids from various child welfare institutions are invited to the Meralco compound to experience a fun-filled day with the employees who play the role of ‘kuyas’ or ‘ates’ for a day.

Gina is one of the proud volunteers. She also participated in Meralco’s outreach programs especially the Christmas activity for kids last year.

This year, the FUN-tastic Friendship Fair gathered almost 300 kids, aged 6-11 years old, from institutions like the Laura Vicuña Foundation, Inc., Kanlungan sa Er-ma Ministry, Martha’s Vineyard Learning Center, and Haligi ng Bata Foundation. Meralco volunteers prepared a series of activities meant to bring joy to the kids.

The “ates” and “kuyas” came from Meralco’s Customer Retail Services, Networks, Shared Services and Subsidiaries Group. Each outreach group was assigned to one institution per day.

“Through this event, we want to share whatever blessings and benefits we have and to serve our community in whatever way we can. Being part of something good is very fulfilling since the company is giving the employees the opportunity to share to the less fortunate,” says Leony de la Llana, Senior VP and Head of Customer Retail Services of Meralco.