2020 Founders Letter

2019 was a year of significant growth for Project Phil. We continued expanding our Scholarship and Health & Hunger Programs and were humbled to raise over $50,000 from 100+ donors — a new annual record. These funds not only broadened the reach of our programs but have also given us a strong foundation to work from during a challenging time.

Like many non-profit organizations, the global Covid-19 pandemic has shifted our program priorities and increased demand for our charitable services. Fortunately, through conservative allocation of our 2019 contributions and incredible displays of generosity from our donor base, Project Phil has been prepared to answer the call of duty in 2020 head on.

Health & Hunger

We prioritized the Health and Hunger program earlier this year to combat the outsized impact of the pandemic on underserved and vulnerable communities in the Philippines. Launched in 2018 in Manila, the program now supports six locations and over 600 families, delivering food, clothing, medicine, personal hygiene supplies and other essentials to children and families in dire need.

To address the evolving needs of our communities during the pandemic, we expanded our services to include disaster relief and virtual learning assistance while fine- tuning our care packages to support emergent local issues. Our Health and Hunger Program Director, Vicky Sureta, was able to visit our communities in January. Vicky and our team of volunteers hosted a number of social events, serving hot meals and distributing essentials as well as toys to the children. This visit also allowed us to get a more in- depth understanding of the needs of our six communities which has been invaluable in servicing them during the pandemic.

Scholarships

Our Scholarship program awarded grants for 50 scholarships to our partner private school, Mater Dei Academy of Sta. Maria, Bulacan, for the 2019-20 school year. The school was able to combine our grant funds with added government subsidies to expand support to 67 students, an incredible accomplishment. We also saw 12 of our scholars successfully graduate Mater Dei Academy and head off to university and career training programs!

For the 2020-21 school year, Project Phil is thrilled to announce an expansion of our Scholarship program to include college scholarships! We will be awarding 25 scholarships to Mater Dei College in addition to the 50 private school scholarships for Mater Dei Academy of Sta. Maria, Bulacan. The college scholarships will cover tuition and books for students studying across the university’s five majors: Agri-Business, Early Childhood Education, Special Needs Education, Physical Education and Entrepreneurship.

Thanks again to all of our donors for supporting our educational and humanitarian mission in the Philippines.

Sincerely,

Cathy Valeros & Ben Pousty
Co-Founders, Project Phil 

2019-2020 IMPACT

• Doubled the number of locations we serve to six

• Serviced 600+ underprivileged children and families

• Delivered 25 large care packages filled with food, medicines, hygiene supplies, clothing and other essentials

• Provided computers and internet access to families in need to support virtual learning during pandemic

• Launched direct giving, supporting small businesses owned and

  operated by five entrepreneurs in our communities

2021 GOALS

• Prioritize and evolve Covid Relief efforts to address community-specific needs as long as Pandemic persists 

• Expand virtual learning and direct giving initiatives to support more families and entrepreneurs

• Deliver 25 large care packages across our six locations

• Service 1000+ children and adults