Mercado, Project Baka-One awarded with ₱100K grant
By Jeriale Waene Navarro, The Spark
Matias John Mercado, the founder of Project Baka-One, won the Greenheart Global Impact Grant and acquired $1,676, approximately ₱100,000, dedicated to providing support and funding to the said organization.
Greenheart Global Impact Grant is a subsidy award annually given to selected and outstanding members of the Greenheart community, serving as an enormous advocate in civics and society and aiding alumni with their projects that help solve a social problem.
Prior to this, Mercado led a $1 for 3 Mangroves Fundraising Program in the USA for the Global Youth Service Day, in which he collected a total amount of $173 worth of donations for Project Baka-One.
The said organization will also be receiving a fund from the US Embassy in the Philippines for the implementation of Project Baka-One in Davao, Cotabato, and Gensan as part of the KL-YES 20th Anniversary.
“Project Baka-One is aiming to nationalize its environmental efforts. We wanted to expand our scope and not only limit our impact here in Davao but also share it with our neighboring coastal communities.”, said Mercado in an interview with The Spark.
Project Baka-One is a youth-led environmental conservation organization that won the Summit 360 Project Proposal competition in 2021 and has been active since.