UPDATE ON THE PARISH FEEDING PROGRAM

Last May 08, 2009, the Parish Feeding Program started with 60 malnourished children from different areas in the Parish as beneficiaries. These children were selected by the Barangay Nutrition Council thru its Brgy. Nutrition Scholar (BNS) in coordination with the Municipal Social Welfare Office and Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of Binan, Laguna. The organizers of the program is using the approach and techniques provided by the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) Region IV-A on a per module basis composed of the required manpower complements for the food preparations, marketing, meal menu and even the education/formation of the parents beneficiaries.

The facilities of the Parish Hall serves as the official kitchen area of the program while the covered court of the Pedro H. Escueta Memorial School in Garcia Subdivision is chosen as the official feeding venue of the program given the proximity of the place and convenience on the part of the beneficiaries. The venue is also a good site for the available space for the Gulayan sa Bakuran project of the program which will be launched this June 2009 for the benefit of the parent’s beneficiaries.

The feeding program is on a daily basis Monday to Friday at 4:00 in the afternoon. This coming June 2009 various sub-programs within the project itself will be launched with the assistance of other private and government agencies that will complement the very purpose of the program which include the following:
• Gulayan ni San Antonio (container and backyard gardening project)
• Nutrition Education Program to be led by the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer of MSWD
• Kabuhayan 101-a livelihood education and training program to be led by the professors and students of the College of Business Administration of St. Michael’s College of Laguna.

Also, this coming school year, the organizers will start to accept student volunteers thru the Bayanihan sa Parokya Project as part of the community service awareness campaign of the program wherein they will be given exposures and hands on experience on every aspect of the program from food preparations to parent’s education and training activities. For those who are interested to join you may contact the following numbers:
049-511-7895 (Parish Office)
0932-222-9711 (Feeding Program Secretariat)

UPDATE ON THE PARISH FEEDING PROGRAM

Just recently, Ushers & Collectors Ministry (UCM) received a notice from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)Regional Office thru its Head, Mrs. Precy Escalante that the Hapag-asa, Hapagmamahal Feeding Program of UCM has already been accredited by the Department.

As an accredited partner of the DSWD, UCM will be receiving logistics and financial support from the NGO partner of DSWD for the feeding programs, the Kabisig ng Lahi Foundation including support and assistance from Unilever Philippines and Mead Jhonson Philippines for the entire 6 month duration of the program.

Under the program, 60 identified malnourished children under the level 1 and 2 classifications as validated and confirmed by the local social workers helping the UCM since last year shall be provided an everyday meal including milk supplements for 6 months. The beneficiaries has already been identified from key areas of the program like Garcia Subdivision, Faraon Subdivision and Umboy Riverside.

Mrs. Escalante revealed that the people from Kabisig and their partners from Unilever and MeadJohnson are very excited with the tie up with UCM considering that it will be the very first time in the history of the program that they will be working with a religious/parish based organization. Kabisig is expecting to launch the program in the parish this coming March 2009 and has already scheduled a visit to the Parish next week to meet the core group of UCM handling the program including the selected parents of the beneficiaries to ensure the effective and smooth implementation of the program.