A growing number of corporations, some of them household names, have been joining one of the most strategic programs at building a competitive Philippines, that of feeding the most undernourished pupils in poor communities.

This school year alone, a total of 19 sponsors have funded the feeding of the most severely undernourished grade one and two pupils from as far as Abra in the Cordilleras to the slums of Metro Manila and Naga City.

To date, the sponsored feeding program are bringing to normal weight a total of 2,580 in 66 schools nationwide purely funded by corporate sponsors and a few individuals and civic clubs, says Victoria Wieneke, president of the Kabisig ng Kalahi, a non-government organization on top of the program.

Entering only its third year, the feeding program dubbed as Pasiglahin ang Estudyanteng Pinoy (PEP) is a joint program of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), Kabisig and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Among the most consistent sponsors are Unilever Philippines, Mead Johnson Nutritionals and JVC foundation.

The type of companies jumping into the program are varied including business process outsourcing leader Accenture, the Asian Development Bank and Century Pacific Court.

Jollibee Foods, after partnering with Kabisig for a while, decided to adopt the program as its flagship social responsibility undertaking. The food chain now has its own supplemental school children feeding program.

The rest in the corporate world prefer to just provide cash donations which are ladled directly into the schools they adopt to make sure that these are spent exactly where they are meant to.

The program was launched in 2009 after Kabisig signed a memorandum of agreement with the NCC and DepEd. It is jointly managed by NCC and Kabisig at the national level while the DepEd identify the target schools.

Teachers and leaders of Parent-Teachers Association in each of the beneficiary schools do the actual feeding based on 28 different menus prescribed by Kabisig.

By: Edu Lopez
original source: www.mb.com.ph