In line with its commitment to help preserve the environment, MR.DIY mounted a seeding program at the La Mesa Watershed and Eco Park in Fairview, Quezon City on March 28, 2023. The daylong activity, manned by about 50 volunteer employees, was in preparation for a major tree-planting initiative involving 500 seeds that would be planted in a designated area of the watershed in the coming tree planting season (June to September).
The initiative is just one of the series of activities MR.DIY is set to mount throughout the year for its MR.DIY A-OK (Acts of Kindness) corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign, which is aimed at serving and spreading goodwill to communities.
The big tree-planting project is the company’s first CSR and volunteer event of the year. It is a collaboration between the family and home improvement one-stop retailer and ABS-CBN’s Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, which recently signed a partnership for the MR.DIY A-OK program. Bantay Kalikasan, which oversees and manages the activity, is a unit of Lingkod Kapamilya.
Benefiting 14 million residents
“The importance of the La Mesa Watershed and Eco Park for the citizens of Metro Manila cannot be overstated,” said MR.DIY Senior Marketing Manager Mark Charles Salecina. “Whatever happens to the watershed directly affects us all in Manila—droughts can cause drinking water shortages and overflowing of the dam can lead to flooding in low-lying areas in the metro. Thus, protecting the watershed is preserving and protecting the quality of life for countless people.”
Salecina also revealed that the 500 tree seedlings that would eventually be planted to become 500 trees are not just a boost for MR.DIY’s environmental restoration efforts; it also symbolizes the retailer’s goal to open 500 stores in the near to middle term. In 2021, MR.DIY planted 100 trees in the watershed also to mark its 100 stores operating at that time.
Sense of volunteerism
“MR.DIY is on the right path towards achieving its vision because of people who have a strong sense of volunteerism,” said MR.DIY Senior Human Resources Manager Mydee David, CPHR. She cited three reasons the engagement is important to the company and its partners.
First, the activity exposes employees to nature and somehow helps remind them of the communal responsibility to preserve it. Second, the volunteer employees could motivate others across the organization towards volunteerism. Third, the activity could transform mindsets that “every little act of kindness that we do can create a big and lasting impact for the communities we serve.”
Through the MR.DIY A-OK program, the company intends to create more meaningful initiatives and partnerships with both public and private sectors that are reflective of the campaign’s four pillars—Family Welfare, Preservation and Protection of the Environment, Youth and Education, and Disaster Preparedness.
Responsibility to environment
“We understand Mr.DIY’s involvement in the protection of La Mesa,” said ABS-CBN Foundation Program Head of Bantay Kalikasan Joal Ascalon. “MR.DIY is helping not just restore the forest and the watershed but also all the communities that depend on it—millions of residents and consumers in Metro Manila who rely on La Mesa for clean water. We hope this partnership and collaboration can continue for many more years.”
Aside from the tree-planting project, MR.DIY is also active in instilling a conscious mindset of sustainable practices among its customers. Through its four-year-old The Good Bag Campaign, the retailer sells reusable eco bags for just ₱7 each—₱1 is automatically donated to MR.DIY A-OK partner organizations and charities, including the ABS-CBN Foundation, TV5 Alagang Kapatid Foundation, SOS Children’s Village, World Vision Philippines, and GOM Football Center for Excellence.
Learn more about MR.DIY’s initiatives for the Preservation and Protection of the Environment as well as other CSR efforts under the MR.DIY A-OK (Acts of Kindness) program. Visit www.mrdiy.com/ph or follow MR.DIY on Facebook (@mrdiyPH), Instagram, and TikTok (@mrdiy.philippines).
