PHILIPPINES. Women in Travel Retail+ (WiTR+), in partnership with its 2023 chosen charity Koma Karanth Foundation, has completed the first of six houses it plans to build for impoverished families in a rural community in the Philippines.
The association has shared photos of the completed house – sponsored by Victoria’s Secret – and the contrast with the home where the family were living previously.
As reported, the association selected the Koma Karanth Foundation, led by its Founder Maitreyi Karanth, as its charity partner last year.
The Koma Karanth Foundation’s mission is to build a KOMA community in Gloria in the province of Oriental Mindoro, providing homes, education, old-age community centres, medical support and support for single women as they strive for self-sufficiency.
WiTR+ raised €34,000 for the foundation last year, over double its initial target and enough to build and furnish six houses in the community.
WiTR+ Chair Sarah Branquinho said: “A huge thank you to everybody who supported last year’s charity. It truly is encouraging to see the results of everyone’s generosity, and this is a great example of the power that we have collectively to change people’s lives for the better.”
For 2024, the WiTR+ chosen charity is For Resilience Italian Swiss Association’s (FRASI) Bike to School project, a non-profit founded in Lugano, Switzerland in 2012. The organisation works to support people who find themselves in vulnerable conditions – in particular boys, girls and women – operating in countries where humanitarian crises arise. ✈
