Sustainability
March 31st 2020 ・ 10 min reading
Chiquita delivered the donation of a preschool classroom for 34 children of Finca 64, through the program “My School First”, of the Ministry of Education from Panama.
This school, located in the province of Bocas del Toro, has 210 students.
The new classroom includes a separate bathroom and cleaning area. The donation responds to Chiquita’s second pillar of sustainability: “Being a Good Neighbor”, whose purpose is the commitment and responsibility of the company to develop a positive and long-term impact in the communities where it operates through the investment in social projects for children and education.
Raúl Gigena Pazos, Chiquita’s Human Resources Director, said that in 2019 the company continues supporting MEDUCA within the “My School First” program, as it considers relevant to support local governments’ programs and all their needs to benefit children, schools, and communities.
“Chiquita launches and supports projects in the communities where our Company operates by investing in school infrastructure. We help children to receive education and to create environmental awareness as we promote social empowerment,” Gigena explained.
Farm 64 educational center is in a rural area with the same name, near the 60s community, where Chiquita has operations in three different farms. One hundred percent of the student population of this school are children of the Company’s workers.
The new facilities shall be State´s property and the Ministry of Education will be in charge of providing its maintenance.
Miriam Castro, Ministry of Education Regional Director, highlighted Chiquita’s initiatives over the years because of the positive and long-lasting impact they have had in the improvement of children’s academic and nutritional conditions.
“This kind of donations which mostly benefits students, children of workers in the banana industry, are important for us. We celebrate this social responsibility contribution and the ties that Chiquita Company maintains with Bocas del Toro community,” said the Regional Director.
Jindriska Yolanda Guardado Owens, Farm 64 School Principal, thanked the company for its support. “In representation of the educational community and the teaching staff, I would like to thank Chiquita Panama Company for making the dream come true of having a preschool classroom that will benefit the children who now attend kindergarten and who will study here in the coming years.”
Present at the ceremony were Miriam Castro, Ministry of Education Regional Director, Esteban Chacón, Provincial Governor, Mario Matute, MIDES Director and for Chiquita Wagner Beig, Agriculture Director, and Raúl Gigena Pazos, Human Resources Director.
