Cancer patients enjoy a movie at SM

For the past two years, the only trips Rose Cagampang, a bus ticket dispatcher from Bohol and her daughter Katrina, 8, have taken are their visits to the hospital and back to their half-way house at Childhaus in Quezon City. Katrina, the youngest of the Cagampang brood, is battling lymphoblastic leukemia.

Mother and daughter however took another trip last Oct. 3 when they were invited to watch the block screening of children’s movie Hotel Transylvania 2 at the SM Mall of Asia as part of the “Give Me Five” campaign, a partnership between United Laboratories ( Unilab) and SM Cares, the corporate social responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings Inc.

Cagampang said the movie treat was a most welcome respite for her and her daughter and the 15 other patients and their parents at Childhaus who enjoyed the two-hour movie. “We are used to just go to the hospital and back to Childhaus and vice versa but now we are going to the movies for the first time in many years. We are so happy and thankful for this wonderful opportunity,” Cagampang said.

Edgar Tejerero, president of SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. (SMLEI) said they have decided to invite patients with their parents at Childhaus for them to take a breather from the rigors of their daily struggle to fight cancer.

“Unilab’s partnership is a great way for the children and parents to have a welcome break,” Tejerero said.

The “Give Me Five” campaign is Paracetamol Biogesic For Kids’ way of helping in SM’s housing project for survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). SM is building 1,000 disaster- resilient homes for the survivors of Yolanda in the Visayas region, particularly in Bogo, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban and Ormoc in Leyte. It has been seeking donations from its business partners to raise P200 million to build the houses.

Two SM Cares Villages, one in Bogo, Cebu and Iloilo, have been turned over to their new owners for free. Two other housing projects will be turned over to beneficiaries in the coming months.

Genevieve Tan, brand manager of Paracetamol Biogesic For Kids, said for every purchase of Unilab’s Paracetamol Biogesic For Kids bottle at any Watson’s store, P5 will be given to the housing project. Customers will also be given free tickets to watch the block screenings of Unilab in selected SM malls.

“This is our first block screening and we will be having more block screenings in other SM malls in the future. This is our way of contributing to a very worthy cause,” Tan said.