GCash for Good lends an ear to the needs of deaf students

True to its aim of building a community of givers through its GCash for Good campaign, the Philippines’ leading mobile wallet has partnered with the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) to provide the needs of the school’s deaf students.

GCash now counts the SDEAS among the non-profit organizations in its GCash for Good community, giving the school its own QR code to facilitate donations for its students and programs.

Every P150 people give through GCash will feed one scholar per day, and every P500 will fund a scholar’s weekly transportation expenses. Stretch the generosity a little more for a P1,000 donation that will fund a student’s school kit and projects.

“Just as we believe in a cashless nation, we also believe in an educated citizenry. All Filipinos deserve equal access to the best education, no matter their physical abilities or their socio- economic backgrounds,” Ney Villasenor, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Mynt, the company behind GCash, said.

The SDEAS is one of the six Schools of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. With 250 students and 45 scholarships per year, it strives to be the premier learner-centered educational institution in Deaf Education in the country.

This year, the goal of the SDEAS is to raise P1 million to support its scholars and continue to develop programs that will raise Deaf leader-advocates in the Philippines who are capable and committed to making positive contributions to their communities.

“A huge number of GCash users are young people, and they are looking not just for a platform to be financially responsible but also for opportunities to do good. GCash for Good gives them the power to transform lives such as those of the deaf scholars in SDEAS,” Villasenor said.

The SDEAS has provided scholarships to more than 600 deaf students and assisted deaf alumni to start their own micro-businesses. Part of its advocacy is to enable hearing people to engage with the deaf through capacity-building programs and Filipino Sign Language classes.