ICTSI Foundation rolls out supplemental feeding programs for children

Romeo B. Dela Cruz Jr., Visions of Hope executive director (front row, right) receives a check from Filipina C. Laurena, ICTSI Foundation executive director, for the implementation of a six-month feeding program for children in Parola, Manila.  Joining them (back row, L-R) are Dra. Rosalinda Tan, Maternal and Child Health, Manila Health Department; Joy Lapuz, ICTSI Foundation program operations manager; and Roy Luntayao, MICT Sustainability and Development Unit manager

The ICTSI Foundation recently rolled out supplemental feeding programs for three areas – Manila, Bauan and Calamba – as more people continue to face hunger because of the pandemic.

Some 5,236 children will be covered by the supplemental feeding program that will run for six months.  In Parola, the program will be implemented in partnership with the MICT Sustainability and Development Unit and the Center for Community Transformation for the benefit of around 1,500 children.

In other parts of Tondo, including Baseco, Happy Land and Smokey Mountain, the Foundation is working with Caritas Manila to provide food to more than 1,000 children.  Some 2,736 preschool and elementary school students in Calamba and Bauan will also benefit from enhanced nutribuns and nutriboost drinks.

Hunger remains to be a serious problem in the Philippines and other parts of the world.  The Food and Nutrition Research Institute estimates that six percent of children below five years suffer from acute malnutrition while 30 percent of children under five years old experience chronic malnutrition. The problem of hunger has been exacerbated by the pandemic due to job loss for many households.

Marie Bernadette De Guzman, ICTSI Foundation program head for Luzon (third from left), and Belle Lucero, Bauan International Port, Inc. CSR coordinator, distribute food packs to parents and guardians of school children included in Bauan, Batangas