SM Foundation empowers communities through social good

Aside from playing a significant role when it comes to economic growth in the Philippines, the private sector is also considered to be a driving force for inclusive and sustainable development in the country. Through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, the private sector is able to address social and environmental concerns within the communities where they operate.

By helping improve the quality of life of the people in these host communities, business is able to flourish. As such, CSR has become a key pillar of successful business management through the years. SM’s visionary founder, Henry “Tatang” Sy, Sr., put it best in his principle that social development and investment go hand in hand with business growth to achieve a better future.

The SM group has embraced the responsibility to contribute to nation building through its social good arm, the SM Foundation, Inc. (SMFI). For nearly four decades, SMFI has focused its resources, time, and reach to ensure that it is able to create opportunities wherever SM is present.

Anchored on Tatang’s belief that education is the greatest equalizer, SMFI established the SM Scholarship Program in 1993 to provide the youth access to quality tertiary and vocational education. To complement this and more importantly, to address the challenges being faced by the country’s public school system, SMFI and its social good partners such as SM Prime have provided school buildings equipped with key facilities and equipment to underserved communities.

Another social good pillar of SMFI is sustainable agriculture that aims to address the dilemma of the aging farmer population in the country as well as the growing gap between supply and demand for local food sources. In 2007, the foundation launched the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) program to bring modern and sustainable farming skills and linkages in both rural and urban communities, empowering farmers to have food on their table and creating market linkage to provide them with economic opportunities. 

Accessible healthcare and timely disaster response are also at the heart of the foundation’s advocacy. Through its Health and Wellness program, SMFI helps address the shortage of quality healthcare facilities by constructing and upgrading health centers in host communities supplemented by medical mission activities.

The Operation Tulong Express (OPTE), on the other hand, gives immediate assistance in the form of relief goods and medical services in collaboration with SM Supermalls and SM Markets to communities affected by calamities and disasters.

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, SMFI was one of the first organizations to assume an active role in assisting in the pandemic response. It expanded the reach and impact of the Health and Wellness program and utilized its partnerships to help frontliners and Filipinos.

Through these social good programs, SMFI continuously aspires to be a development partner for its host communities and serve as model for other organizations in terms of bringing social development specially in areas where they operate.