CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
Over the years, the rising number in population has resulted to poverty especially in the
depressed area which created unemployment as one of the major concerns in the society. Many
different entities tried to initiate livelihood programs for sustainable development. Livelihood
programs assure wealth creation, self-employment and promising industries for different
households within certain barangays. These programs provide additional earnings that underpin
the improvement of the socio-economic standing of various families.
Environmentally minded consumers focus on sustainability of products which concern
with methods that use resources which are not yet depleted and permanently damaged.
Fortunately, recycled plastics are found useful, affordable and could easily be crafted into stylish
products. These recycled plastic scraps which are referred as the friendly pillow has an extensive
usage after its useful life depending on recycling programs in a community.
The friendly pillow program focuses on how plastic scraps can somehow be recycled into
something handy in the form of pillow. The Parent Leaders in Barangay Sta. Rosa patiently made
these pillows out of plastic scraps and stylishly covered and designed it with cotton linen and
silk.
Creating pillows using shredded plastic materials that come from different households
which are purely recycled helps the residents of Sta. Rosa in providing employment and
augmenting their income from these wastes. The livelihood program was started by orienting the
Parent Leaders of the product planning, consultation and development.

The livelihood program was started with the assistance of La Salette Pananagutan Center
(LSPC) programs which promotes general livelihood for all the barangays in Santiago City to
boost the income of the residents who are willing to render their service of crafting in which they
will be given a certain percentage of return in total profit of their crafted products. The Center is
also duly responsible of marketing their products.

MISSION
The Friendly Pillows undertakes creation of products which focus on sustainability, low
costing of materials and promoting the societys responsibility to the environment. It also
empowers the social and economic aspect of the target group. Moreover, through the production
of Friendly Pillow, communities manage their resources (plastic scraps) base better and it enables
communities to mobilize their human resources.

VISION
The Friendly Pillows vision is to help unemployed members of the household to earn
income and improve the quality of living in a sustainable manner by implementing livelihood
programs. It also aims working towards strengthening communication and working relationships
with other partners to provide services, education and livelihood to the target population.