DAVAO CITY – Congressman Weslie Gatchalian, a representative of the Gatchalian family, and Bryan Yves Lasala, hotel manager of Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, personally handed a one million peso check donation to the House of Hope Foundation for Kids with Cancer during its annual Survivors Day held last December 9, 2017, Saturday at the Ateneo de Davao University.
2017 marks a 10-year partnership between Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao and the House of Hope. Traditionally, over the years, the Management laid out initiatives for the benefit of the foundation under their Corporate Social Responsibility program. Proceeds from hotel offers and promotions were donated to the beneficiaries for their much needed treatment fund.
According to Dr. Mae Dolendo, pediatric oncologist and founder of the charity organization, resources for childhood cancer treatment in Mindanao are limited and providing holistic cancer care continues to be a challenge. As of today, the Southern Philippines Medical Center is the only medical facility in the region with a Children’s Cancer and Blood Diseases Unit and a multidisciplinary team that can respond to their needs. Every year, about 100 to 150 patients come to seek for treatment that spans a number of months to years. As most of them are indigent, with no place or family to stay with, the transient home was built through a project of the Rotary Club of Waling-Waling Davao and in coordination with the Davao Children’s Cancer Fund.
In recent years, the survival rate for children with pediatric cancer has increased from 10% to 50%. The ‘Kids of Hope’, or the beneficiaries of all programs and initiatives under the foundation’s advocacy, represent a coming together – of people, families, communities and sectors in working together to provide the best possible chances for children with cancer.
The Gatchalians’ Waterfront Philippines (WPI) is an investment holding company for hotel, leisure and tourism businesses. It primarily operates through its chain of hotels – Waterfront Pavilion Hotel and Casino (Manila), Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino (Cebu), Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino (Mactan) and Waterfront Insular Hotel (Davao). (PR)