TARLAC CITY – About 557 out-of-school youth (OSY) in the province benefitted from the Php799,000 worth of livelihood assistance given by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Each beneficiary was given a start-up kit for his or her respective business under Project HOPE or Hone Out-of-school Youth to be Productive and Empowered.
These include kits on dressmaking, massage therapy, shielded metal arc welding, automotive wiring harness assembly, automotive service, and electronic product assembly and servicing.
Also, electrical installation and maintenance, computer system servicing, refrigeration and air-condition servicing, and construction services.
In a message, DOLE Regional Director Ana Dione said the aid was sourced out from the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.
“Project HOPE is a scholarship program initiated by the Eduardo Cojuangco Foundation Inc. in partnership with the Department of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, La Salle Greenhills, Provincial Government of Tarlac, and DOLE,” Dione explained.
Speaking in behalf of her fellow beneficiaries, Project HOPE graduate-beneficiary Maribel Hand expressed her heartfelt gratitude to DOLE for the grant received as she vowed to further enrich what has been given to her.
“The starter kits will be a catalyst of HOPE for a better future,” Hand said.
Launch in 2015, Project HOPE aims to seek, train, and employ about 5,000 OSY from the province of Tarlac. /(CLJD/TJBM-PIA 3)#