Kath C. Eustaquio-Derla often wonders what children can achieve when they are simply given the chance to create.
“Can you just imagine if you give children the tools to write and draw their dreams? Just imagine what they would create,” she said.
As founder of PaperKat Books, one of the publishing imprints under HS Grafik Print, Kath spends her days helping authors bring their stories to life. But as a mother of two, she also knows that every story starts somewhere, sometimes with nothing more than a blank sheet of paper and a pencil.
Growing up, she never had to think twice about having books and art materials at home. Her parents would often tell her, “Hindi tayo mayaman, pero mayaman tayo sa papel.” Coming from a family that has been in the printing business since 1983, paper was always within reach. As a child, she even made tiny storybooks by stapling sheets of paper together, never imagining she would one day build a career publishing books.
Looking back, she realized it wasn’t just about having paper. It was having the freedom to create.
Today, she hopes more Filipino children get that same opportunity—to imagine, create, and tell stories of their own.
Helping children has long been part of her life. Every year, she buys school supplies for the children of their household helpers, filling shopping baskets with notebooks, crayons, scissors, and other classroom essentials. It was during one of those moments that an unexpected conversation gave birth to PaperKits, her corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
Earlier that year, Kath handed one of their household helpers several packs of white book paper from the family’s printing press. Later, the helper told her that her son was happy to have a “stock” of paper in his backpack because he no longer had to pay ₱5 for a single sheet whenever school projects came up.
To many people, that may not sound like much. But to Kath, whose family has been in the printing business since 1983, it immediately stood out.
She knew that no child should have to pay ₱5 for a single sheet of paper.
“I know how much paper costs fresh from the factory,” Kath told Tayo Mismo. “Some children have so much paper left over at the end of the school year, while others don’t even have the resources to buy it.”
She also found herself thinking beyond that one sheet. If a project required five pages, that was already ₱25, before paying for printing or any other materials.
And when every sheet is reserved for school requirements, there is often little left for drawing, writing stories, or simply letting a child’s imagination run free.
The conversation also made her think about life at home. While her own children freely doodled on stacks of paper, folded them into crafts, or even turned them into paper planes, other children had to think twice before using a single sheet. What was ordinary in one home could be a luxury in another.
Rather than dwell on the problem, Kath asked herself a simple question: What can I do with what I already have? The answer was right in front of her.
About two years ago, she began setting up donation boxes at book fairs, encouraging visitors to drop off new or unused pencils. The response exceeded expectations. For the 2024 run alone, individual donors contributed around 1,200 pencils. Instead of simply matching the donations, Kath’s family added 10,000 sheets of bond paper and hundreds of erasers from their own resources, creating nearly 400 Paper Kits for students. They also included more than 130 children’s books, donated novels for the school library, and over 1,000 sheets of scratch paper that children could use for arts and crafts.
Once enough supplies had been gathered, the first PaperKits were distributed to Palatiw Elementary School in Pasig City, where Kath already had a relationship with the school’s principal and one of the city counselors.
But the visit was never just about distributing supplies. In collaboration with celebrity Alden Richards and GMA Network reporter Nelson Canlas, the group organized a book reading activity for the students while Kath distributed PaperKits and children’s books. Among them was “Si Gren, Ang Kaibigan Kong Alien” by GMA Network, and “Mayumo” a fantasy book written by Claire Delfin.
Nelson Canlas and Chef Miggy Cabel Moreno also donated copies of their children’s book, “Ang Kuwento ni Putli Mandi” to help grow the school’s library. It was exactly the kind of community effort Kath envisioned, bringing together books, creativity, and the simple joy of reading.
For Kath, the goal was never simply to hand out paper. She wanted the children to leave with both the tools to create and the inspiration to use them.
“When you’re given the tools to create something, you’re inspired to create a future for yourself,” she said.
A story could encourage them to imagine, while a pencil and a few sheets of paper gave them a place to begin.
Since then, the project has expanded to schools in Pasay, with plans to introduce workshops that encourage students to use their paper to write stories, report on their communities, and discover the joy of putting their ideas into words. She also hopes to work with more partners so future PaperKits can include crayons, erasers, and other school supplies.
Kath chose to begin in Pasig, where both her family and business are rooted. She believes it’s always good to start where you’re planted.
PaperKits began with one conversation and one simple question: What can I do with what I already have?
For Kath, the answer was paper and pencils. For someone else, it could be unused notebooks sitting on a shelf, hotel pencils tucked away in a drawer, a few hours to volunteer, or a skill worth sharing.
Perhaps that’s the real lesson behind PaperKits. We often overlook the things we already have because they seem ordinary. In someone else’s hands, though, they can become the start of a new story, a new skill, or even a dream.
After all, sometimes, the opportunity to dream begins with something as simple as a blank sheet of paper.
