GE joins Asean Global Community Day observance

MANILA, Philippines - GE Philippines celebrated GE Global Community Day (GCD) by holding “It’s All About Health,” a whole-day event filled with fun activities and informative, health-related talks for underprivileged children from Food for the Hungry Minds (FHMS). 

GCD is one of the biggest annual GE Volunteers events held between May and July to encourage GE employees to focus on three major areas to touch more lives: education, environment and community development. This year, GE mobilized thousands of volunteers across ASEAN to register and join in GE Global Community Projects within the regional countries.  

Locally, the celebration was aligned with GE’s HealthAhead initiative, which is aimed at creating healthy work environment at home and at work for GE and its employees. HealthAhead is an integral component of healthymagination, a company-wide initiative that addresses the need for sustainable health worldwide and encourages people to live healthier lives through GE’s innovative ideas and technologies. Over 100 GE Volunteers in the Philippines and their families took this mission a step higher and extended its reach to organizations in need through “It’s All About Health.”

More than 70 children from FHMS, as well as their guardians and teachers, enjoyed the activities that were lined up on that day such as teambuilding for Grades 4 and 5 students and exciting games for everyone. 

Children from Food for the Hungry Minds with GE Volunteers

Talks on relevant health matters were also conducted by doctors and nutrition experts. These included a talk on “Tobacco Cessation” by Dr. Noel Viado, a pulmonary specialist at St. Luke’s Hospital, for Grade 6 students and male guardians; “Stress Management” by freelance consultant Agnes Nieto, for Grade 6 students; “Food Handling and Affordable Meals” by Ihna Jhunrica Manota of Business Team, for female guardians, and “Dengue Awareness” by Dr. Richard Encilla, a pediatrician at St. Luke’s Hospital, for all guardians.   

The team from Nestle Corporation held a nutrition assessment for children-participants. There was also a feeding project which was part of Banco de Caloritas, a social enterprise offering a wellness program and healthy food options. The children went home with loot bags containing healthy products, fruits packs and stress balls, among others, from GE and Nestle.

GE has over 175 GE Volunteer Councils located in more than 46 countries across the globe. GE employees worldwide volunteer over 1 million of hours of community service yearly in over 1,000 service projects, and benefiting the lives of tens of thousands of people.   They share, not only their time, talent, knowledge and resources; but most of all, their hearts, in helping people who need them most.

 “GE Volunteers in the Philippines continue to promote the spirit of volunteerism by engaging in worthy programs,” says Nilo Cruz, GE Volunteers Philippines council leader and country executive for GE Healthcare. “It is an important part of our company’s culture. Our projects and outreach programs are tailored to the specific challenges of our country and our societal needs.”

Recently, John Rice, GE vice chairman and president and CEO of Global Growth and Operations — spearheaded a gift-giving activity for more than 70 abandoned kids from the Children’s Joy Foundation. It was initiated by GE in partnership with the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Early this year, GE Volunteers in the Philippines joined the global initiative dubbed “Comfort 4 Kids.” Toys from GE headquarters in the USA were shipped to the Philippines and were personally stuffed by GE employees. Partnering with Kythe Foundation, volunteers distributed these toys to cancer-stricken and orthopedic patients of the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital.