BPI employees step up as financial wellness mentors to everyday heroes

BPI Foundation, the social development arm of BPI, recently launched its Adopt-A-Beneficiary program, a high-impact mentorship program on financial wellness, as a way of giving back to uniformed and non-uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), employees from the Department of Education (DepEd), and adult family members of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

“We recognize the contributions and sacrifices of our everyday heroes in keeping our society safe, our children educated, and our economy running amid these trying times,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo. “As part of our commitment to creating a culture of financial wellness, the Adopt-a-Beneficiary program aims to and enable beneficiaries to have better control of their finances without feeling overwhelmed and intimidated.”

Employee volunteers have started to provide one-on-one mentoring sessions that are focused on the financial needs of their assigned beneficiaries.

Alexius Abong, one of the volunteer mentors, shared his motivation to participate in the program. “It is a great opportunity for us to be able to share our knowledge and passion on the importance of financial awareness to help them reach their goals in life,” he said.

“We are able to learn from each other because we get to see things from a different perspective,” said Josefina Picache, another volunteer. “I look forward to helping our mentees enrich their lives and achieve their goals through our guidance.”

Expressing his gratitude to BPI Foundation for being chosen as one of the adopted beneficiaries, Gerald Magno, a DepEd personnel, said, “Bilang newly-weds at nagsisimula pa lang kami ng aking asawa, malaking tulong ang mentorship program na ito upang simulan na ang aming financial wellness journey (As newly-weds, with my wife and I just starting out, this mentorship program is a great help to start our financial wellness journey).”

For Noemie Penuela, a family member of a seafarer from Pototan, Iloilo, she considered the exclusive mentoring sessions a source of encouragement for her to be more open about her financial worries. “Isa itong malaking bagay na hinati nila kami sa maliliit na grupo. Nakatulong ito na mas maintindihan namin ang sessions dahil natututukan kami ng aming mentor (It was of great help that they divided us into small groups. It aided us in better understanding the session because our mentor was able to focus on us),” she said.

To be able to cover the financial topics slated in the Adopt-a-Beneficiary program curriculum, BPI volunteer mentors will continue to give exclusive mentorship sessions until December this year.

“We hope that our volunteers and beneficiaries will seize and optimize this opportunity to improve their financial management skills and ultimately make financial wellness a permanent part of their lives,” Mr. Cammayo added.

To know more about BPI Foundation, follow its Facebook and Instagram pages and visit www.bpifoundation.org.