Change is about to happen at Smokey Mountain as Caltex’s latest social investment initiative, Driving Change with Caltex, makes a stop at Manila’s once dumpsite with the goal of providing the children in the community an avenue where they can play and rebuild the childhood joys they had missed out on due to poverty. 

Driving Change with Caltex is the company’s latest reality community project show, in partnership with Fox International Channels (FIC), which harnesses the power of social media to embark on regional social efforts, from October 5 to November 4, 2012, spanning five Caltex markets in Asia—Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore.

Hosted by TV presenter/ model Henry Golding, Driving Change with Caltex would have Golding pair up with a local celebrity from each market as they attempt to gather volunteers and carry out a socially initiated mission.

For the Philippines, Golding would team up with local TV host Marc Nelson as they aim find 2,000 items of sports equipment—one for each child of Smokey Mountain, to rebuild and complete the Field of Dreams and organize a celebrity football match, in less than three days, with the help of the community and volunteers from Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI), the marketer of the high-quality Caltex brand of fuels and lubricants.

Field of Dreams is a project initiated in 2010 by Junior Chamber International-Manila's (JCI) “Dare to C.A.R.E.” (Community Awareness and Rehabilitation Effort) for Smokey Mountain program in partnership with Gawad Kalinga (GK), which seeks to promote a youth sports program for the community by building a multi-sports field.

Through Driving Change with Caltex, the company targets at giving the kids of Smokey Mountain hope that they could rise above the garbage site by helping them excel in football skills by building a world-class field, sustained by an all-encompassing sports program backed-up by various charitable organizations, such as JCI and GK.
“Our Caltex Star stands for quality, value and service, and similarly we believe in giving back to the communities we do business in through meaningful social investment initiatives focused on education, training and skill-building,” said CPI country chair Jim Meynink.

He added, “The projects chosen were specially selected for their relevance to local needs. Through Driving Change with Caltex, we hope to rally the support of drivers and the local community to help those in need enjoy their lives’ journey.”

For Raissa Bautista, CPI manager for policy, government, and public affairs, the Driving Change with Caltex mission in the Philippines goes beyond social investment initiatives and volunteerism effort.

“We are bringing back the childhood that these kids once missed out on by providing them with the avenues and resources to experience life once more through the values and confidence that they may gain from playing sports,” Bautista said.

For more details on the activities in each respective market, visit the Driving Change microsite at www.drivingchangewithcaltex.com to find out more. Stay updated on the team’s progress on Facebook.com/drivingchangewithcaltex, or follow Twitter: Caltex4Change.