CSR not just about dole-out, says Dell chief

MANILA, Philippines - Although an outright cash donation is not an altogether bad thing, Dell Philippines president Richard Teo rightly believes unfocused dole-outs cannot go very far.

With that, Dell Philippines recently committed anew to “further support the advocacy” of international non-profit organization ChildHope Asia Philippines Inc. (CHAP) “in helping to close the learning gap among underserved children in Metro Manila.”

Dell employees, partners, and media recently attended a premiere of “Wolverine” in Greenbelt, Makati City, joined by wards of CHAP. Before the screening, CHAP — represented by assistant executive director Maribel Flores — was presented with a $19,000 check by Teo.

In an exclusive interview with The STAR, Teo said Dell’s involvement with CHAP has now spanned two years — noting that “ChildHope Asia’s children outreach program matches exactly what Dell has been looking for in terms of how (its) technologies and solutions can be best used to reach out to as many children as possible.”

According to its website, Dell Philippines focuses on the main areas of environment, communities, people, supply chain, reporting, and governance in its CSR. Subsumed within its “communities” campaign is its advocacy for “youth education.”

Acknowledging that the NGO has been doing good work in supporting up to 1,200 street kids, Teo said Dell had, early this year, bestowed a grant that consisted of “cash and computer solutions, which allowed these technologies to be accessible to street children.”

He added: “We are really reaching out to the children to provide them with education. ChildHope Asia teaches these children with things like hygiene, how to live graciously, and, through the technology we share, we can help them have a better life.”

In addition to donations, Dell sends volunteers to mentor the children on computer usage, values, and, well, life skills.

“It’s very important that our employees volunteer their personal time,” said Teo. “Dell has a lot of initiatives to encourage our employees to do something on CSR. We realize that our employees are able to give back to society and, at the same time, they can do this as a team. It helps to reinforce employee-to-employee relationships as well.”

The Dell chief proudly noted that more people have become involved in the company’s CSR endeavors. “In 2011, our employee volunteerism rate was only 26 percent,” he said. “In 2012, we put in a lot of effort so we could organize programs where our employees could participate. The participation rate jumped to 68 percent. In terms of hours, in 2011 it was 2.7 hours. In 2012, it became 7.5 hours on average.”

Dell, in a release, said the “core of (its) partnership” with CHAP is to “provide the underserved youth and educators with access to technology and serve as a catalyst for lifelong learning and career readiness. Dell technology is used to equip mobile education vans with laptops and the required education software to accomplish the work of accredited programs administered by CHAP, benefiting an estimated 500 children.”

Also through Dell’s assistance, CHAP now has a computer lab providing “digital learning and basic computer literacy classes to 120 selected street children brought to the charity’s premises.” The equipment additionally enables educators and mentors to record and track the progress of the street children in the program.

The supplemental grant is expected to “help CHAP sustain its efforts and continue to monitor the welfare of the children and the impact of the program to their development,” according to Dell.

Teo revealed that Dell also involves itself locally with, among other entities and locations, Habitat for Humanity, the Philippine National Red Cross, and the La Mesa Ecopark.

Again, it’s all about sustainability, he underscored. Dell, after all, wants to be here for the long haul.

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For more information on ChildHope Asia, visit www.childhope.org.ph.