𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑢 ‘𝐺𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑒𝑘𝑒𝑛𝑖’ 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠

Mekeni Food Corporation recognized its employees’ children who have achieved academic excellence in their respective schools through their annual Galing ng Batang Mekeni Awards.

Galing ng Batang Mekeni is a program that was established in 2008. It was initially started to help their employees with their children’s education and has grown to become a program that inspires students to excel in school to make their parents and community proud.

Mekeni Food Corp president Pruds Garcia shared that this program is close to the heart of the family as it highlights the desire of the company to extend support to the family members of their employees. He further said that the program exhibits the appreciation of the sacrifices of the parents in providing the best future for their children through education.

This year, Galing ng Batang Mekeni awarded 185 students with two Magna Cum Laudes: Kathreena Louise O. Uy and Mikhaella A. Santos. Uy, daughter of Marilou Uy, AVP for HR/Exports, graduated from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) with a degree in Business Administration with a major in Human Resource Management. The program was in its 2nd year when she got the first award in Grade 1.

In her speech, Uy recalled how she would strive and study hard in order to get academic awards and be included in Mekeni’s recognition program for school achievers. She also advises the co-awardees to never give up whenever confronted with challenges.

Meanwhile, Mikhaella Santos, the daughter of company Dentist Ethelyn Santos, graduated from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) with a degree in Life and Science. She was in 5th Grade when she received her 1st recognition as a Galing ng Batang Mekeni awardee. Since then, she has consistently been recognized as a Galing ng Batang Mekeni awardee.

This year’s guest in the recognition is Jewel Mercado, Head of Synergies Agribubble Inc and Anima Exchange Ltd. She said that Mekeni stands for motivation, excellence, kindness, empowerment, nurture and integrity. She commends Mekeni for supporting programs similar to this which uplifts the quality of life of Filipino families.

Over the years, Mekeni has supported various educational programs and activities within and beyond their hometown of Porac. The strong belief and value of education have been rooted in their founder’s mission. Mekeni’s patriarch, Felix Garcia, and matriarch, the late Meding Garcia, were both public school teachers who have spent their lives educating young minds in Balubad, Porac before starting Mekeni.

“Ever since we were young, our parents have always instilled the importance of education and hard work in me and my four brothers. We have always kept in mind their sacrifices as we were growing up and made sure that all of their hard work would not go in vain. This is the value that we want to show our employees, and hopefully they can also impart that value to their children,” said Garcia.

With the continuation of the Galing ng Batang Mekeni program, Mekeni hopes to help more employees and inspire more students to consistently persevere and work harder towards the realization of their dreams for a better future.