Bench

Company Name: Bench

Company Owner: Ben Chan 

Company Address: 30th cor. Rizal Drive, Crescent Park West 5, Bonifacio Global City, 1634 Taguig City, Philippines

Official Contact #: (632)777-7888

Company Website: https://shop.bench.com.ph/

Company Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BenchOfficial/

Company E-mail: bench@benchtm.com

Products/ Services: Apparels and Accessories

Corporate Social Responsibility

Bench in education

For five out of its 25 years of existence, the fashion-plus brand Bench has been our partner in education.

In 2008, we asked empire-builder Ben Chan to invest in the future of young Filipinos through the Inquirer in Education (IIE) literacy program. Since then, Bench has been donating copies of our newspaper to the students of teachers who sign up to teach our serial story every September.

Before an audience of newspaper editors and publishers from Europe, South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific at the recent World Young Readers Summit, I talked about Bench. Aralynn McMane, executive director for young readership development at the World Association of Newspapers and Newspaper Publishers (WAN-Ifra), asked me to share with other newspapers how we have managed to keep Bench as a partner. She was curious about why a company that thrives on the fleeting frills and thrills of fashion would choose to sustain a literacy program.

I really didn’t have an answer, and the only reason I could think of was one that Simon Sinek, author of “Start with Why,” put succinctly at a TED Talk.

“People buy why you do things, not what you do,” said Sinek. He also said, “If you talk about what you believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe.”

For economic reasons, IIE is different from the traditional newspapers in education (NIE) program. In other countries, NIE charges teachers a nominal fee for every workshop the newspaper puts together. It also sells to students the educational packs that the paper produces.

I knew we couldn’t do the same here. Our public school teachers cannot afford it. It was also out of the question to ask parents to shell out any more money than they were already spending for their children’s education.

I wanted to make our IIE activities available to public school teachers and students and I knew I could not pull this off without sponsorship.

Our only hope was to get companies with CSR funds on our side. But how do you do that?

Whenever our marketing and advertising sections talked to companies about sponsoring our IIE projects, they would always leave the table empty-handed.

“Grade school kids are not our market,” said Ben, when the idea of sponsoring a serial reading program for third and fourth graders was first broached to him.

Courtesy of Inquirer.net

Bench launches 1M for 1M campaign

MANILA, Philippines - The stars throw their support behind their chosen charitable institutions, as Bench undertakes its “1M for 1M” campaign.

For every 100,000 Twitter followers to @benchtm, and for every additional 100,000 followers up to a ceiling of one million, Bench will endow the charity with the most votes, with P100,000. A total of P1 million will be donated to charity, divided into 10 in order to help more institutions.

Among the celebrities who have joined the cause to tweet and promote their own chosen institutions are Paulo Avelino (Philippine Red Cross), Jessy Mendiola (Missionaries of Charity), Dingdong Dantes (YesPinoy Foundation), Lovi Poe (Childhope Asia), Diether Ocampo (K.I.D.S. Foundation), Kris Aquino (AGAPP), Jake Cuenca (C.R.I.B.S.), Lucy Torres Gomez (K.I.D.S. or Kapatid Iwas Droga sa Tulong ng Sports), Sam Concepcion (World Vision), Rocco Nacino (Cancer Warriors Foundation), John Prats (National Children’s Hospital), Jason Francisco (Mother of Mercy Home for the Elderly), Iya Villania (School for the Deaf), Karylle (CHILDHaus), Isabelle Daza (Ephesus, Home of the Abused Girls), Jon Avila (Philippine Orthopedic Center Auxiliary Board, Inc.), Kris Lawrence (World Vision), Janine Gutierrez (White Cross), Anthony and David Semerad (World Vision).

These foundations are very close to these endorsers’ hearts, chosen, as they were, for the celebrities’ personal connections with them.

“I celebrate my birthday every year with C.R.I.B.S. This is my way of giving back,” says Jake Cuenca.

“When I was in high school, I was able to visit a lot of institutions. I fell in love with [Ephesus] and that’s why I wanted to help them,” shares Isabelle Daza.

“I chose CHILDHAUS because I’ve been working with the kids for a long time. My family and my friends are fortunate that the kids have let us in their hearts. The money will go a long way to help the families who stay in Manila with the medical treatments and living expenses while their kids have to go to the hospitals,” says Karylle.

For Iya Villania, the cause speaks to her very own nature as a performer, and as one who reaches for her aspirations. “Despite their disability to hear and speak properly, they aren’t giving up, and are taking the initiative to make their dreams come true. They aren’t limiting themselves and I have high respect for that. With that, I want to help them reach their dreams.”

“My reason would be kids. Bimby’s age now have access to preschool education. As of end of February 2012, AGAPP has completed 253 classrooms spread in all regions of the Philippines; 52 are under construction and nine new schools have been selected and due to start soon,” shares Kris Aquino.

“I have always appreciated how Bench has always incorporated social responsibility in their company’s vision and mission, even long before that was expected or demanded of every big company. This promo is, but one of the many they have already done and will do. What makes this special though is how this coincides with Bench’s celebration of its 25th year in the business, and again they are giving back in a very big way. I chose K.I.D.S foundation because I believe that the children are the hope of the nation and if at a young age they are trained to be healthy in both body and mind, there is no way for the country to go but up. Drug addiction is reality. It is a pressing problem and everyone can be a target, regardless of social standing,” says Lucy Torrez Gomez. “A sport is a fun way to instill important core values like discipline, self-control, patience. It also builds character by letting a child experience firsthand what it is like to not only win, but also lose. It cancels out an idle and bored mind, which is the playground for evil vices like drug addiction. In sports, a child is trained to be a winner in more ways than one.”

Courtesy of PHILSTAR