The HOPE Effect

Nanette Medved-Po—founder, chairman, and president of the non-profit organisation Generation HOPE—is totally in her element in a remote school outside General Santos, South Cotabato, Mindanao, which has become incredibly meaningful for her of late. “On Mondays, 46 kids walk three hours with one teacher from home to here,” Medved-Po shares. “There used to be only a shed where they would study, then sleep in until Friday, when they would walk the three hours back home. This was a school with no buildings, electricity, or water. Now they have classrooms—and this is the first time for Generation HOPE to build something more than just that.”

Well-versed with other non-profits such as World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and Bantay Bata, Medved-Po knew fundraising for a cause had its challenges. In a flash of inspiration, she came up with HOPE in a Bottle, a bottle of purified water just like any other in the market, with one main difference: 100