Smart employees climb for a cause

MANILA, Philippines - Climbing stairs is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of exercise, providing benefits such as weight loss and cardiovascular strength. Thus, city folks and office workers are encouraged to ditch the elevator and take the stairs instead for healthier living.

Employees of Smart Communications, Inc. are doing just that. On the initiative of the Smart Mountaineering Club (SMC), they do stair-climbing exercises every Thursday at the Makati headquarters. 

Now, they have taken stair climbing to the next level — by turning it into a fundraising activity, organized by the mountaineering club. 

Dozens of them recently scouted for financial pledges and took on the 33 storeys of the Ayala Avenue towers for the benefit of The Storytelling Project (TSP), which aims to instill love for reading among Filipino children in remote communities. Sponsors pledged to donate a particular amount for every 11 floors conquered by the participants, who then went on to finish as many loops as they could.

The Stair Climb Challenge raised enough money to help TSP become a formally registered nongovernment organization. 

TSP founders and former Smart employees Rey Bufi and Grace Soriano usually immerse themselves in a remote community and tell stories to kids for 21 days, the time it supposedly takes for a person to form a habit. After this, they start collecting books to build a small community library, and organize a reading club composed of older kids who can act as mentors to the younger ones.

Since its inception in 2010, TSP has gone to six communities including Pactil in Mt. Province and Sison in Pangasinan, reaching a total of 350 Filipino children.

“We are looking forward to expanding our coverage, as the funds raised by the SMC will surely help us in our commitment to continue our mission of educating Filipino children. We thank Smart, the SMC, and all the participants and sponsors for the support,” Bufi said.

“We at the Smart Mountaineering Club are happy to help our alumnus Rey Bufi because we sincerely believe in TSP’s cause,” said SMC president Allan Michael Ostrea. “We are glad that we were able to use our regular stair climbing activity not just to promote fitness and reduce our carbon footprint, but also to help kids discover a love for learning through TSP.”

Ostrea added: “Stair climbing is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise that has long been employed by SMC members to train physically for mountain climbs and other outdoor activities. In promotion of Smart’s Live More campaign, SMC brought this activity to a bigger audience by encouraging employees to climb the stairs as a means to exercise every Thursday after work.” 

Smart test analyst supervisor Glaiza Mae Layacan said she joined the Stair Climb Challenge because she was looking for alternative ways to exercise. “The fact that it was a fund-raising activity made it more meaningful. When I reached the 33rd floor, I felt as though I had made it to the top of a mountain!”