RJ Garcia, founder of the Appledrive Project and winner
of the Western Union Hero Wish contest, advocates healthy eating for children
in impoverished areas
The Appledrive Project, started by RJ Garcia—a businessman
and migrant Filipino—takes to ordinary cities and towns around the Philippines
as a way to spread the merits of proper nutrition and good hygiene. The
initiative is now a catalyst that instills the concept of healthy eating in
underserved areas around the country, with the help of volunteers and donations
given by organizations who share the same vision.
“In 2011, while on vacation in
Baler, I decided to buy hundreds of apples to give as souvenirs to elementary
students,” Garcia recalled. “I was surprised to discover that most of the kids
there had never eaten or seen an apple in real life. [The apple] was a mythical
fruit that they knew from the letter A on the alphabet on the blackboard. I was
so inspired and touched by the kids that I decided to organize more apple
drives—and that’s how my advocacy started.”
His advocacy is now gaining a
reputation for being a symbol of unwavering commitment for what he considers
his calling. Garcia shares how growing up, he saw how his family had to contend
with a lot of health issues: his father suffers from diabetes, a brother who
lost his life to heart disease and a sister who battled breast cancer.
Because of this, being healthy,
particularly when it comes to diet, became a primary focus of his life. And
this inspired him to share the merits of his chosen lifestyle. Apples, more
than any other fruit, stood for the concept that drives his initiative.
Remember: “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” as the saying goes.
Despite this, he also knew
that apples were a rather luxurious fruit. As a child, Garcia recalls how they
could rarely afford to eat them. The Appledrive Project however hopes not only
to give underprivileged children access to the fruit but teach them and their
parents that while it may be cheaper and more convenient to buy candy,
chocolate or other junk food, it’s more important to eat and live healthy.
It’s a simple concept that has
engaged volunteers, piqued the interest of corporations who lend their support
or even celebrities who want to get involved, and continues to gain traction.
To date, Garcia’s Appledrive Project has organized 113 Appledrives across
different communities around the country.
For this reason, Western Union
has recognized Garcia as a Western Union Hero, which he sees an opportunity to
further propel his healthy-awaiting awareness efforts to new heights.
“The Heroes for the Better
campaign is Western Union’s way of putting the spotlight on the efforts and
achievement of Filipinos around the world across different areas such as
education, health, livelihood, science and technology, culture, arts, or volunteerism.
These are people who have given their time, money, skill and expertise to make
a positive change and we wanted to share it to the country,” explains Patricia
Riingen, Western Union Senior Vice President, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
The Hero Wish contest, which
was part of the overarching Western Union initiative, gathers votes from supporters
of these different advocacies, where the winner will receive a cash prize of
USD25,000.
Garcia’s Appledrive Project
garnered an impressive 917,434 votes, which he credits to the support of
various organizations, businesses, celebrities and networks from around the
world who wanted to do what they can to push the project forward.
“The more people know about
how much of an impact they can make at teaching kids how to eat healthily, the
more people will want to get involved, and the more kids will learn about these
better lifestyle options,” Garcia says.
The goal has always been to
reach out to more communities, not just in the Philippines but all over the
world as well. Charitable organizations in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Malaysia,
India, Albania and Pakistan have already reached out to Appledrive Project to
host drives in their respective countries. And thanks to the honor and
recognition that winning Heroes for Better brings, the initiative legitimizes
the project and simultaneously allows them expand their reach.
About
Western Union
The Western Union Company
(NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo,
Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions
branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and
businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around
the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders.
As of June 30, 2015,
the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were
offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200
countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the
capability to send money to millions of bank accounts.
In 2014,
The Western Union Company completed 255 million
consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $85 billion of principal
between consumers, and 484 million business payments. For more information,
visit www.westernunion.com.
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