The Association of Carriers and Equipment Lessors (ACEL) donated P50,000 to the Bahay Kalinga of Sta. Maria, Bulacan, last December 1, 2021. The donation was the Association’s latest project under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program through which it continues to look for opportunities to give back, especially at this time when the construction industry and the whole country are facing many challenges.
A top-level ACEL delegation made up of J. Eladio L. Angeles, the Association president; Jonathan R. Perez, first vice president; Juan Lorenzo C. Banson, corporate secretary; and Precious Darlene Moya, office manager; went to Sta. Maria’s Barangay Patag to visit this home for the aged and personally turn over the donation.
Established in 1998, this town’s Bahay Kalinga is a home for elderly and abandoned women. There are currently 33 women living there whose ages range from 57 to 96. Eleven of them are already bed-ridden
Banson, who also chairs the Association’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, handed over the check to Esmeralda Ivonne R. Perez, Bahay Kalinga president, while the ACEL visitors and a group of happy Bahay Kalinga residents looked on and applauded. “It was truly heartwarming to see how our donation made those elderly ladies, some of whom were on wheelchairs, very happy,” Banson said afterwards. “That was one of those moments that make being head of the CSR committee so meaningful.”
Upon receiving the donation, Bahay Kalinga’s Perez thanked the ACEL group and led them in a tour of the facilities. “For 23 years now, Bahay Kalinga has been providing a home and taking care of aging women who have been abandoned by their families,” she said. “And it is largely through the kind assistance of institutions like ACEL that we are able to continue doing this.”
ACEL’s Bahay Kalinga donation was actually a joint project of the CSR committee and the Committee on Fellowship. The P50,000 came from the fellowship contributions solicited by the latter. Although these contributions are meant to fund ACEL’s many fellowship activities, a portion is allotted for the Association’s CSR program.
“I would like to thank our fellowship sponsors for their generosity which allowed us to provide much-needed financial assistance to Bahay Kalinga,” Angeles said. “It was particularly auspicious that we were able to do this in December, the traditional time for gift-giving and for bringing joy to our fellowmen, especially those less fortunate than us.” This year’s fellowship contributors are Olympic Engineering and Sales Corporation, Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure, Civic Merchandising Inc., RMD Kwikform Phils. Inc., JAP Construction & Development Corporation, Inframachineries Corporation, Megawide Corporation, CM Pancho Construction Inc., Faequip Corporation, Equiprime Optimum Solutions Inc., Manitowoc Crane Group Inc., Anseca Development Corporation, Benedicto Steel Corporation, and Uptime Earthmoving Solutions Inc.
