Thanks to the continued patronage of customers from one of the well-loved Filipino restaurant chains in the country, the scholars at a vocational culinary arts school for underprivileged young women will soon have a world-class kitchen with state-of-the-art equipment.

Punlaan School, a 42-year-old learning institution, has received a whole range of state-of-the-art baking kitchen equipment as part of Conti's Bakeshop and Restaurant's donation for the school's new 7-story building in San Juan.

The donation includes ventilation and electrical for the baking kitchen that will be named after the well-loved 25-year-old homegrown food brand founded and owned by the Conti sisters of Batangas. When it opens in January next year, the new Punlaan school baking kitchen will be able to accommodate as many as 250 students at a time, which is a big boost from the 100 capacities of the current kitchen.

"We are very fortunate and grateful for the all-out support of Conti's for this project, which is the biggest initiative in Punlaan's history," notes school director Kai Nabatar. "This expansion will increase the number of beneficiaries of our scholarships and greatly improve the quality of our students."

Conti's has been a Punlaan benefactor for more than 20 years now. It started in the '90s with financial donations for the scholarships of several students. The partnership has evolved through the years and now includes a training program at the Conti's commissary lasting seven months. To date, Conti's has absorbed close to 100 Punlaan graduates as employees, who are now able to help provide for their families.

"As Conti's grew, the partnership with Punlaan also grew," Nabatar says. "We have grown together."

Conti's president and CEO, Joey Garcia, says that education, women empowerment, and providing opportunities to the underprivileged are some of the core values of the Conti sisters that found a perfect match in Punlaan. He notes that the equipment Conti's has donated to the school is the same state-of-the-art equipment used in Conti's commissary to produce all of the brand's high-quality cakes and pastries.

"We are thrilled to take the partnership further with this latest development. We hope that the new baking kitchen will help the young women of Punlaan become excellent professionals when they finish their studies and move into the workforce in the culinary and hospitality industries."