Station Square East Commercial Corporation, Taguig City, Metro Manila, Philippines: Aklatan

Essay of up to 525 words

Total 447 words used.

This pandemic brought the Bayanihan Spirit of Filipinos alive again. Community Pantries sprout from different locations. The idea of Maginhawa Pantry inspired the group of students to start the Libreng AklaTAN para kay Sir Tan to honor the contributions of late Sir Leonilo Sanchez Tan to their education. Same idea however, instead of food, people can donate and get books. From single location, the book pantry has now expanded to over 10 branches nationwide. As a brand that supports education, Market! Market! takes on valuable collaborations, thus we made  partnership with the Libreng AklaTAN para kay Sir Tan. Through this partnership, Market! Market! helps raise more books for the cause by becoming an alternative drop-off venue for donations. As a mall which stages big events and educational and fun activities for kids pre-pandemic, it is a great opportunity to reach out to kids by giving them the gift of reading even if they can’t go to the malls. This pandemic locked the kids inside their houses and left with gadgets. Giving children with free books will help them be productive while inside their homes. This initiative was applauded by customers. One customer mentioned that it helps him when he needed to declutter his books because he can give it to other kids instead of throwing them away.

The initial plan of this collaboration is juts to be a simple drop-off donations of books not knowing that it will be this big. Customers are bringing boxes and boxes of their old books. Even mechants joined the cause by donating books and other learning materials. Macao Imperial, one of our merchants, offered to give 20% dicount to all customers who willdonate books because they loved the idea. 

After 3 months of collecting books, from July to September 2022,  and with over thousand of customers who donated and joined the project, a total of 7,545 books and other school supplies were collected. Aside from the social media posts and in-mall collaterals, several PR articles were also published to further widen the reach of the campaign. Write-up was published in 14 websites with a reach of an estimated 7,260,000 and 2 million media value. The Libreng AklaTAN para kay Sir Tan organizers decided chose Peace Kamp, an Aeta Community at Porac, Pampanga, as one of the beneficiaries among others. Boxes of educational books, activity books, and even school supplies were given to the community. The remaining books went to the 10 different branches and daycares and learning centers (Pinagkuartelan Day Care Center and Manatal Day Care Center). Even after the campaign, customers are still bringing their books at Market! Market!, proving the impact of the campaign to customers.

Macao Imperial Tea, Learn 'N Play, Libreng Aklatan para kay Sir Tan