A lay Catholic group today held a press conference to promote its adoption of a social program that will help send poor children to school.

“About five million Filipinos who are supposed to be in school are not in school. We would like to help them,” said Eric Delos Reyes, president of Answering the Cry of the Poor, the institutional arm of Couples for Christ (CFC) .

“We believe that education is one of the keys in breaking the bondage of poverty. Because if you are not educated, you will remain poor,” he said.

Delos Reyes said today that CFC hopes to raise 30 million pesos (US$714,285) for the project with a sponsored walk, which is scheduled for August 21.

He said the group hopes to attract 100,000 walkers in countries where CFC is present, including some 60,000 in Metro Manila.

The group’s child-sponsorship program looks for partners around the world to support the education of children. Sponsors have been asked to contribute 12,500 pesos a year for elementary and high school students, and 25,000 pesos per year for those undertaking vocational and college education.

“Not everybody can afford it but we would like everybody to take a step, to participate, to be involved in this big, wholesome task of sending poor children to school,” Delos Reyes said.

“We are asking everybody to walk with us. Our theme is, ‘I will walk for a scholar, walk with me,’” he said.

Maria Aragon, a Canadian of Philippine descent whose cover of Lady Gaga’s song “Born this Way” went viral on YouTube, has volunteered to be the group’s ambassador for the Global Walk.

In a television interview earlier this month, Aragon said her heart was moved when she came to the Philippines and saw street children.

“When I went to the Philippines, there were kids in the streets and they had no home and they had no bed, and it made me cry. I wanna make a change … and hopefully I influence other people to make a change too,” she said.

The Global Walk started five years ago in the United States and Canada. It is an annual fundraising event that aims to raise awareness and funds for Couples for Christ’s work with the poor.