By Marcus Suner

Last March 17, 2023, the Ateneo de Manila Senior High School’s Katipunan Fund Drive (KFD) season came to a close in partnership with the Christian Service and Involvement Program (CSIP).

The fund drive lasted for one month, starting February 13, with the primary goal of “develop[ing] a sense of social awareness and involvement […] by offering Filipino products and services”, according to their official primer.

The batch of SY 2022-2023 was able to remit an unofficial total of PHP 996,782 as of 1:42 PM on March 29, according to CSIP Subject Area Coordinator Joseph Tan. 

However, this number will be “consolidated and double check[ed]” with those in charge of accounting.

According to Tan, 40 percent is allotted to partner communities, 40 percent is for calamity response, and the remaining 20 percent will go towards Jesuit missions.

In comparison, the previous KFD season’s remittances held in SY 2018-2019 amounted to around PHP 2,324,923. 

Multiple factors played a pivotal role in this difference, including the strict health and safety regulations with consumables as well as the disjointed schedules of Grade 11 and Grade 12.

KFD Head Florissa Carlos said that “it was really a success, […] despite the numerous challenges and changes with all the […] regulations,” given how much the classes remitted, surpassing the CSIP Department’s expectations of around “only half a million”. 

Notable top hits, according to Carlos, included food meals such as Ate Rica’s Bacsilog and Jollibee. Coffee drinks were also a “big hit”, with sales occurring even in the morning despite the ban on coffee in the official primer.

When asked about this, “at first, [the sale of coffee] really wasn’t allowed, […] as [the Ateneo] is working towards a healthier lifestyle,” Carlos described. “So, as much as possible, the University does not want to sell that.”

“But, since you are the students, and this is KFD, that’s a different thing; that’s why it was allowed.” reasoned Carlos.

For many sections, there had been no major issue regarding the flow of their mini-businesses. This had been the case for the class of a Grade 11 ABM student, who has opted to remain anonymous. 

“Due to our preparations, we have had no issues as everything was accounted for”, he described. Additionally, he expressed his satisfaction with their class reaching their desired sales.

However, Class Finance Head Sebie Sanchez noted troubles with keeping his class’ inventory, ultimately resulting in them “decid[ing] to change our KFD as we weren’t able to attain the break-even mark.”

Enrico Santos, another Class Finance Head, recalled problems with products arriving late and not selling out of stock. “A lot of us had to sacrifice our own savings […] and we were even forced to drop the price of our goods”, he described.

Although he was “satisfied” with the class’ overall performance, he said that they “could’ve done better” with regard to decorations, customer management, and transactions.

Carlos, along with the CSIP Department, wanted to congratulate everyone for a job well done.

“You really see how dedicated students are, not just because it is a requirement, but more than that, […] gusto ng mga estudyante na tumulong sa mga nangangailangan upang bumangon sa situation nila,” she said.

“The main takeaway here is, you see how people love each other, as in yung pagmamahal ng Pinoy sa isa’t isa. A person would really go out of their way to help their fellow Filipino in need. Yung ating partner community, they’re very grateful and humbled by this whole experience,” she explained.