Bangkok--27 Dec--Aziam Burson-Marsteller
ING Life Rolls Out Self-Sustaining School InitiativeUnder ING Chances for Children 2010 Program
ING Life Limited recently held a charitable CSR activity at the Ban Pong Gate School in Saraburi as part of the organization’s global Chances for Children 2010 program. ING Life Limited has supported the Chances for Children program since its establishment in 2005 and this year the company has rolled out its Self-Sustaining School Initiative, which is designed to help economically disadvantaged schools help themselves and their students for the good of both the local community and society as a whole.
ING Life Limited’s Self-Sustaining School Initiative has been organized by a committee of employee volunteers who devoted their time as well as their expertise in business operations, risk management and program design. The initiative involved selecting a school that is financially challenged but has demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit of self-sufficiency. ING Life Limited then worked to support the school’s efforts to improve its ability to serve its community.
“We are all very proud of the work that ING Life Limited has done to help ensure disadvantaged Thai children have access to quality education,” said Poolap Penkitti, Acting Co-CEO, ING Life Limited. “ING Chances for Children is a global program of the ING Group that focuses on supporting education for youth in locally relevant ways. In Thailand, we have done this through a number of major programs including a long-term partnership with UNICEF, ongoing support of the Phra Ratchathan Baan Koh Phi Phi School, which was severely impacted by the 2004 tsunami, and now with our Self-Sustaining School Initiative.”
In order to select an appropriate school for the Self-Sustaining School initiative, the ING Life Limited team worked with Saraburi Provincial Education Department to identify potential candidates and then used their own criteria to make the final decision. The result of this process was the selection of the Ban Pong Gate School in Muak Lek, Saraburi as the initiative’s first site.
The Ban Pong Gate School has been recognized by Saraburi Provincial Education Department for its efforts to be as self-sufficient as possible, while continuing to provide a quality education for the students. Specific programs run by the school include producing handicrafts and cultivating mushrooms for sale to raise money for the school as well as growing vegetables for both the student’s lunches as well as for sale.
“Our self-sustaining school initiative team has worked very hard to bring this program to life and today’s activities demonstrate the fruits of these efforts. In addition to the renovation and construction work that our employee volunteers are doing around the school, ING Life Limited is also providing consultation to the school to determine the returns from various projects so they can more effectively allocate their resources. We are also helping to create a market in Bangkok for the school’s handicrafts which we hope will help them raise additional funds to expand their programs. Based on our success to date we will be continuing this initiative as part of our commitment to the Chances for Children program,” concluded Khun Poolap.
For further information, please contact:
Aziam Burson-Marsteller
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