Kalipay Negrense Foundation Inc. renewed its educational partnership with UST Angelicum College as the sole accredited Re-entry Education Agenda for the Poor (REAP) Program Learning Site in Western Visayas of the Dominican institution through a memorandum of agreement signing.
Fr. Simon Peter Ramos, the head of ACES-REAP Program of UST Angelicum College, represented the Thomasian Angelican college at the MOA signing with Kalipay’s founder and president Anna Balcells, vice president Ginnette Yanson-Dumancas, and board member Francis Campos.
Mhel Sillador, Kalipay executive director, said that the partnership started in 2018 and has produced several beneficiaries who are presently excelling in college taking various courses such as Bachelor of Science in Anthropology, Social Work, Agriculture Major in Crop Science, Information Technology, Civil Engineering, Office Administration, Hospitality Management Major in Culinary Arts, Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, History, and English.
Sillador said that Kalipay plans to extend the educational program to the community, especially to the poor out-of-school children, youth, and even adults.
The REAP of UST Angelicum College is an educational program founded to provide quality and innovative education to learners who are motivated to complete their basic education, and currently, Kalipay children are continuously learning guided by the virtues and values of Dominican education, he said.
Kalipay Learning Center also held its moving up ceremony on Tuesday, May 16, with the theme “Enriching the Quality of Education Through Enhancement, Innovation, and Collaboration” with its partner in education, LBC Foundation.
During the height of the COVID -19 pandemic, in April 2020, LBC Foundation helped Kalipay in running the school to sustain the quality education of the children up to the present.
Melissa-Ann Macarubbo, LBC Foundation’s project officer, Helien Sartorio, community organizer, John Louie Claudio, LBC Express Delivery Manager, together with their staff attended the ceremony, witnessing the educational successes of our Kalipay children for academic year 2022-2023, Sillador said.
“We are blessed that during the pandemic and that blessing is to partner with Kalipay. It is our commitment that we also like to partner with Kalipay to be able to help our children towards a better future,”John Louie Claudio, LBC Express Delivery Manager, said during the event.
After the Moving Up Ceremony, Kalipay and LBC Foundation renewed their partnership through signing a Memorandum of Agreement.
“LBC is truly a miracle. You are a miracle to Kalipay. We wouldn’t have survived without you and all our individual sponsors who greatly support the education of our children,” Balcells said.
Kalipay Foundation looks forward to continuing making impactful collaborations with UST-Angelicum College and LBC Foundation with the mission of bringing joy to disadvantaged children, she said.*