SMDC implements groundbreaking programs to help various sectors during the pandemic

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has changed our lives. And as the disease has spread in many communities around the country, we have seen countless Filipinos stand up and help out amid the crisis.

The spirit of bayanihan has been in full display during this crisis and SM Development Corporation (SMDC), its employees and the residents of its various developments have been helping out in various ways.

Shortly after an Enhanced Community Quarantine was declared for Metro Manila, SMDC and its residents did not hesitate to help out their community’s frontliners. The tenants of each residential development started a donation drive for food packs, canned goods, care kits and face masks for the service personnel who could not go home to their families. The donations were coursed through each development’s property management office.

SMDC also launched The Good Guys Care Team, a group of volunteer SMDC employees who provide assistance to elderly and PWD residents living alone in purchasing everyday essentials and in attending to their other needs. Every day for two months now, motorcycle riders have been buying and delivering essentials to the homes of the elderly and PWD  in coordination with the Care Team.  Not only had the residents benefited from this initiative: the riders, who were displaced due to the lockdowns, have also been able to earn a living.

The Good Guys program puts a premium on the physical and mental well-being of SMDC residents. The Care Team is only one of the many projects the program has on elderlies and PWDs. Through the medical missions held in every SMDC development, the elderly and PWD residents have been able to get check-ups performed by the SM Foundation’s doctor and nurses. They also have been receiving vitamin supplements and reading glasses.

SMDC has started a mental wellness online session titled “Happy Mind, Happy Home Life’ in association with the Youth Mental Health Coalition (Y4MH). During the first session, over a hundred residents were taught mindfulness techniques intended to help them deal with the mental impact of the pandemic.

The tight quarantine measures did not stop SMDC from extending assistance to vulnerable groups outside of its communities. Through The Good Guys Market, SMDC has connected residents directly with farmers and brought the latter’s produce to the doorsteps of SMDC residents. The Market has helped residents have direct access to fresh and nutritious produce while ensuring that farmers have had a reliable source of income. Over 26,000 small and medium-scale farmers affiliated with SM Foundation’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) for Sustainable Agriculture are benefitting from this community grocer initiative, which is currently running in six SMDC properties, with intent to add more in the days ahead.

These groundbreaking initiatives are part of SMDC’s The Good Guys campaign launched in 2019. The program, which includes community-building activities ranging from emergency preparedness trainings to health and wellness sessions, believes in the capacity of every SMDC resident to be a Good Guy who not only will work to improve his community but will also actively contribute to the stability of society during an emergency or a crisis.

In line with its commitment to build a community of Good Guys, SMDC intends to ensure that these programs and initiatives remain sustainable.