BAGUIO CITY – The Blessed Association of Retired Persons (BARP) Foundation, Inc. will be organizing a disaster response team as part of its corporate social responsibility and commitment to extend utmost assistance to those who will be in need of help during the onslaught of natural calamities and emergency situations.
Prof. Federico A. Balanag, BARP Foundation president, said the group will be receiving the much awaited ambulance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) next month in time for the organization of the disaster response team as part of its contributions to the celebration of national disaster consciousness month in July.
“Our disaster response team will be composed of our junior members and it will be fully equipped with the necessary first aid kits needed in emergency situations so that they can immediately attend to calls for help from the local residents within the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area,” Balanag stressed.
He added the operation of the organization’s disaster response team will be at its expense considering that it will also be used for the emergency needs of the active members in the said areas.
According to him, the team will be composed of individuals with trainings and educational background on allied medical courses so that they will be able to cater to the needs of individuals who will be affected by the onslaught of natural calamities and emergency situations.
Balanag added the group will be publishing the emergency numbers of its disaster response team once all the needed units of equipment and personnel shall have been made available for the purpose, saying that the team will be open to attend to the emergency needs of everyone who will seek their assistance.
The BARP official underscored the availability of its disaster response team will help address the difficulty of its members seeking help from other groups and even hospitals in the city during emergency situations.
BARP is the biggest organization of senior citizens in the entire Northern Luzon area having a membership of more or less 10,000 active members.
He said empowering the junior members of the fastest growing organization of senior citizens is part of the group’s overall package in order to make them responsible and dedicated members of the organization and for them to be able to acquire the appropriate leadership skills and knowledge to lead the organization in the future.
“We continue to accept junior members, especially those who are at least 38 years old, as part of our efforts to expand our membership and in order to generate more participation from the middle-aged sector in charting the major thrusts of the group,” Balang said.
He appealed to interested middle-aged individuals wanting to be members of the group to avail of the attractive benefits offered to those who will be enrolling as new members of the group and maximize their talents in rendering service to others.
BARP is currently conducting a massive recruitment of members for them to be able to avail of its patented programs and offerings for the elderlies and middle-aged individuals who are interested to join the group. By Dexter A. See