MANILA – This year, Electrolux brings back its annual donation drive with a tender twist. Apart from collecting and washing pre-loved clothes, the brand has partnered with Gawad Kalinga’s Trese to transform unusable donations into quilts for newborn babies from orphanages and other communities. “There’s a deeper story now into the clothes donation that we do,” said Andrea Pionilla, marketing manager of Electrolux Philippines.
In the tradition of preserving a story told by each piece of fabric, these quilts will document the story of underprivileged moms helping newborns in need.
Apple Villar, product manager for Fabricare, explained that the idea came about when they realized they could still turn unwearable clothes into usable items. “We kept on receiving weird donations but we didn’t want to get rid of them because it will just go to the landfill,” Villar said, adding that they sometimes receive curtains, togas, and gowns.
“One of our colleagues recently gave birth so we were talking about how expensive things are for the babies and how sad it is that sometimes there are families that are not too privileged. These things don’t make it to the priority list so it’s an opportunity for us to continue what we’re doing and actually give another angle to it also by addressing that need – giving newborns that nice warm swaddling blanket to keep them warm especially these rainy days,” she continued.
For the project, Electrolux has teamed up with partner establishments, such as Mommy Mundo, whose MomShare advocacy empowers mothers to get involved in outreach activities. Starting last December, Mommy Mundo set up donation boxes in their offices as well as satellite offices of their mom-preneurs. “It was a really good partnership because our mums were bringing donations of clothes as well as stuffed toys in our stations and we were able to turn them over in a very sanitized way. It was folded and packaged really well so that when it reached the beneficiaries, they felt so dignified and they’ve never received donations in that quality so it was really great,” said Janice Villanueva, founder of Mommy Mundo.
According to Villanueva, such projects are what they call ‘teachable moments’. “We noticed that during the past disasters or calamities, when we do relief efforts, the mums bring their children of all ages form the youngest to the teenagers. They’re not necessarily happy about it, but in the end they realize why we’re dong it and as long as the moms are able to communicate with them how their able to reach-out out of their small circles and even five-year-olds know that they can make a difference, it becomes a teachable moment for everybody,” she said.
Apart from through their partner establishments, Electrolux will engage corporate communities in the campaign. “For example, in a building, there are several floors, the different offices are competing against each other and who will be giving the most donations and the floor or office who gives the most number of donations get their pantries up-cycled by Electrolux. So we give them an incentive for doing good. It’s not just about giving, it’s about sharing also which is really imparting a portion of yourself in whatever you give,” she said.
Pionilla said the advocacy aims to show that sharing goes beyond donating clothes. “Through Delightful-E Simple to Share, we hope to mark the difference between giving and sharing. For when we share, we freely impart a piece of ourselves – our time, effort, and concern. Hence, we are able to give more,” she concluded.
Electrolux launched Delightful-E Simple to Share along with Delightful-E Simple to Save on July 30. “We want to help moms save not just money but also time by making their everyday tasks easier,” Pionilla said.
For more information, visit The Electrolux Little White Book.
