By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
San
Nicolas, Ilocos Norte—The San Nicolas Bin-I
Foundation once again produced 11 more college graduates for the recently
concluded school year.
The said foundation gives
scholarship grants to poor but deserving students from this town for their
tertiary education.
Of the almost 200 Bin-I scholars currently, two of them
graduated as cum laude the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU); they are Jan
Jan Decano and Susan Monica Guillermo, Education and Chemical Engineering
graduates, respectively.
San Nicolas Vice Mayor and Bin-I
founder Alfredo “Boying” P. Valdez Jr. said since the foundation started in
2004, the 32 graduates of Bin-I are now working in their respective fields of
specialization.
Bin-I sources its funds from
donations both locally and from abroad; gifts and proceeds from concerts they
organize; t-shirt and Bin-I lamp sale; and a counterpart funding from the local
government of P200,000 annually.
Mr. Valdez stressed that his dream
for the people of San Nicolas to become better through education motivates him
to work hard on this project.
He stressed that their
scholars’ successes protect not only donations of kindhearted San Nicoleños but
all the funds of the foundation in general.
He added that he also makes
sure that the funds will serve their purpose and to involve respectable people
in and out of the government regardless of political affiliation to ensure its
smooth operations and to leave a legacy to the municipality.
The San Nicolas Express Bin-I
Foundation-Ilocos Norte, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit non-governmental,
charitable and socio-civic-spirited foundation.
Generally, the program aims
to support the upgrading and delivery of survival, security and development
services to the San Nicoleños.
Specifically, the program
aims to attain the following: (1) Undertake projects with far reaching
significance to the promotion of family values, educational enrichment and
health development of all San Nicoleños; (2) Assist in the development of
cooperativism and entrepreneurship in the Municipality of San Nicolas, and
launching of other livelihood projects geared for the creation of employment
and raising the income of San Nicoleños; (3) Participate in the promotion of
good governance, people empowerment and corporate responsibility; and (4)
Strengthen the linkages, cooperation and mutual assistance of all San Nicoleños
here and abroad.
In his nine-year tenure as San
Nicolas mayor, it was the spirit of giving by benevolent San Nicoleños
particularly from abroad which has been tremendous. Heavy equipment, patrol cars,
fire trucks, even the construction and improvement of the various projects and
a lot more had been donated in coordination with the different organizations
abroad such as the Annak ti San Nicolas of Hawaii–Honolulu, Maui, and Kauai
Chapters, Annak ti San Nicolas of Hong Kong Chapter, San Nicolas Teachers
Association of Hawaii, San Nicolaneous
USA, San Nicoleños of California, Sadiri ti San Nicolas International-Hawaii
Chapter, San Nicolas Goodwill Foundation, Catuguing Association of Hawaii and
others.
It is heartening to note that
there are also people who would like to share something for the education of
the financially-challenged but deserving students. It is through sincere
concern fired up by the students’ dreams that the foundation has been
established and now serves as the appropriate channel to allay the fear of
willing donors and at the same time increasing school participation rate.
Relative to this, the “Adopt
a Scholar” is now also implemented by the Bin-I Foundation. A willing donor will shoulder all the
educational expenses of a certain student starting from elementary until such
student finishes his course.
The municipal government and
the Foundation empowered children of low-income families to achieve higher
education and fulfill their leadership potential by providing them with
guaranteed tuition support and equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and
habits they need to gain entry to higher education and succeed in college and
beyond.
Now that an Educational
Assistance Office is established, funding support for the Bin-I Foundation has
increased and more are now interested in sharing their hard-earned monies for
the benefit of these young scholars. The
foundation’s operation is coursed through fund raising activities such as the
selling of CDs, the conduct of benefit concerts, dinner-for-a cause events,
mountain biking for cause and run for a cause (Taray-Adal).
The scholarship program of
the municipal government, through the Bin-I Foundation, gained popularity. Donations
from kind-hearted and compassionate San Nicoleños locally and internationally
and from private individuals in the province who have learned about this program
and believed in its objectives also have become a source of fund to support the
Scholarship Program. Municipal Officials
and employees also are coming up with voluntary contributions which are
regularly deducted from their salaries.
The foundation has Board of
Trustees composed of credible citizens of the municipality take time in
screening qualified applicants who have to hurdle written examinations and
undergo a personal interview.
Scholars should maintain a
certain average of their grades required by the board. Stipends are not given in full. Funds are only released as the need arises to
instill in the scholars the value of frugality and hard work.
The partnership of the local
government unit and the Bin-I Foundation has earned recognition as second runner-up
in 2008 in the regional search for LGU-NGO Project-Based Practices.
Incumbent San Nicolas Mayor
Melanie Grace P. Valdez also congratulated to the 11 graduates who are products
of the Bin-I Foundation.
The mayor believes that
education is the foundation of a developed community, the rock-bottom equalizer
that fills the gaping distance between the rich and poor. The people should
learn modern methodologies and technologies to keep abreast with the fast and
rapid changing of the times and this could only be achieved with an educated
citizenry.
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