Marriott backs Rise Above Foundation

IN line with Marriott International’s Spirit to Serve advocacy, the Cebu City Marriott Hotel showcased Rise Above Foundation Cebu’s RecyBags Livelihood Program as one of the hotel’s highlights during the recently concluded Sinulog festivities.

Rise Above Foundation is a nonprofit, nongovernment organization focused on improving the quality of life of poor families in Cebu through skills training, health, hygiene and educational programs.

Founded in 2000 through  the dedication and hard work of missionary Scandinavian couple Elisabet and Flemming Hansen, Rise Above Cebu has constantly and consistently uplifted the lives of poor Filipino families through various advocacies, such as feeding programs, family care and education, dental and medical missions and livelihood programs.

In 2009, Rise Above partnered with Fair Trade Cebu to train unemployed mothers in making recycled bags out of used rice and animal feed sacks. Since then, these mothers have learned to create bags of different shapes and sizes, from handy purses to large  beach bags!  The bigger challenge turned out to be getting the bags out in the market for wider consumer appreciation so that capital is reinvested to buy more materials to increase production and generate income for the moms to feed their families. While the bag-making sustained momentum, there were hardly any avenues for selling which eventually kept a growing inventory of RecyBags tucked away in storage.

This is where Cebu City Marriott Hotel found the opportunity to help these mothers.  By giving them a venue to display their items to a captive market of in-house guests, diners and Sinulog revelers, Rise Above Foundation was able to showcase their creations of fashionable handwoven RecyBags last Jan. 16-17 at the Marriott lobby. All proceeds went to Rise Above Foundation.

Those who want to help the foundation may visit their office  at #252 I. Limkakeng St., Happy Valley Subdivision, Cebu City or call 2551063.