Coca-Cola Invigorates Lives, Enlivens Tacloban City Communities with STAR Program Christmas Convention

Helping out to bring a joyous yuletide spirit among Taclobanons after a year of agony and night-long laments from ravaged homeland, Coca-cola Philippines has recently unfolded its newest holiday icon that is most familiar to all Filipinos – the neighborhood sari-sari storeowners.

Close to five thousands women micro-entrepreneurs took part in the Coca-Cola’s most unique campaign by lighting up of Christmas lanterns, made by them, from Tacloban, all the way to Manila, Bacolod, Pampanga, Batangas, and Davao, streets were lit up simultaneously.

Coca-Cola’s Christmas in Share Sari-Saring Happiness Day

The Christmas lanterns or Parol, used in the campaign, were made from recycled Coke bottles and indigenous materials. It was part of the Coca-Cola’s Sari-Saring Happiness Day, which tapped sari-sari store owners as the new portrait of Coca-cola Christmas.

“Coca-Cola Sari-Saring Happiness Day is an entirely new way of celebrating the season. From the big lighting ceremonies that we usually hold in the city, we travelled to provinces, barangays and tapped the champions of our brand, the new icons of a unique Coca-Cola Christmas – your neighborhood sari-sari store owners,” said Jasmin Vinculado, Vice President for Marketing, Coca-Cola Philippines.

The beverage firm mounted the campaign to recognize the women who light up communities, who inspire and dish out the refreshing goodness of Coca-cola, while also acting as microeconomic pillars of the community.

STAR Program Empowers Women

Coca-Cola Sari-Saring Happiness Day is in line project to the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access to Resources (STAR) Program Christmas Convention – a series of events which is part of the global 5 by 20 Program of the company, aims to empower 200,000 women entrepreneurs in the Philippines and five million worldwide by year 2020.

Coca-Cola Philippines vice president for public affairs and communications Adel Tamano said the STAR teaches entrepreneurship and gender sensitivity to the women since the company wants to highlight the struggles that women face, which somehow their husbands don’t appreciate what they do and they have done to the family or to the community.

The STAR has been operating in 2012 in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which trains the women on micro-entrepreneurial skills, and financial services to grow their businesses with the support of several microfinance institutions such as the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), Alalay sa Kaunlaran Inc., ASA Foundation and First Community Cooperative which loans capital to them.

So far, at least 30,000 women retailers have already joined the program in the Philippines.

Taclobanons express gratitude to Coca-Cola

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola’s campaign coincided with the first year anniversary of Yolanda on November 8. This was also a day for the women entrepreneurs to celebrate their resurgence a year after losing their businesses from devastation of super typhoon Yolanda.

Many of the sari-sari store owners in Tacloban have shared their gratitude to the beverage company.

One of them is, Helen Fornillos, 45, residents of Barangay 79, whose retail store was wiped out by the super typhoon – now, she gets back in selling through the help of Coca-cola.

“Ginawa kaming star ng coke dahil tinulungan nila kami na bumalik sa pagtitinda. Nagpapasalamat talaga kami ng marami sa Coca-Cola dahil kung wala sila, wala na din kaming pag-asa na makabalik sa pagtitinda,” Fornillos said while recalling the help made by the beverage firm to them.

Despite of the damages obtained by the Coca-cola Tacloban Plant after Yolanda struck, Fornillos added that the beverage company still extended its help to them after distributing coke products, cooler and stall, to revive their small business again.

Also, in November 2013, the Coca-Cola System immediately donated $2.5 million for relief efforts, followed by a diversion of its advertising resources to a program called Rebuild PH.

“The Tacloban leg is the most special to us because it also marks the realization of the commitment we made one year ago to help the city get back on its feet. We do not commemorate onslaught of the typhoon. What we want to celebrate is the resiliency of the people,” Tamano enclosed.

Last year, November 8, 2013, the city of Tacloban was severely damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), causing massive destruction and loss of numerous lives across the city.