PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN OTTAWA STEPS FORWARD FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

23 July 2015 – On the occasion of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week in the Philippines, Ambassador Petronila P. Garcia and her team devoted their Saturday morning for the Garlic Project of the Ottawa-Carleton Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (OCAPDD) on 23 July 2016 at the Silver Spring Farm in Ottawa.   

 For the second year running, OCAPDD welcomed Embassy personnel and their dependents as the first batch of volunteers for the garlic harvest season. 

 Every year, OCAPPD’s Garlic Project requires 6,000 hours to derive proceeds for persons to fund the special needs of around 1,100 persons with disabilities in the Ottawa-Carleton Area.  OCAPDD services include education, training, and clothing and Special Olympics programs.   The NGO supports its clients as they seek jobs and find assisted living arrangements.

“My team looks forward to volunteer work with OCAPDD every year.   More and more, we become attuned to the needs of Persons with Disabilities while giving back to a host country known globally for its generosity, including to the Philippines which is a Country of Focus for Canadian development cooperation,” Ambassador Garcia said. 

Ambassador Garcia also dispatched a consular team to Montreal, Quebec on the same weekend to deliver frontline services to members of the Filipino community in the province, including PWDs.