Since opening, the RC Tagum City Food Bank has restored all the severely mal nourished 1 to 6 year old children in Barangays Mankilam, Apokon, San Agustin and San Miguel, and we have served Barangay Pagsabangan for 3 weeks.After several months of feedings and no weight gain it became clear they needed to eat every day and since cooking for them everyday is just not possible the idea of a food bank came to mind. We are able to buy rice
from the NFA at charity prices (27 pesos per kilo) and give every baby 3 kilos per week (If a mom has 3 kids in the food bank they each get 3 kilos a week) And they know this rice is for the babies. Statistically being underweight means less time in school, more time in jails and less time employed.
from the NFA at charity prices (27 pesos per kilo) and give every baby 3 kilos per week (If a mom has 3 kids in the food bank they each get 3 kilos a week) And they know this rice is for the babies. Statistically being underweight means less time in school, more time in jails and less time employed.
Being stunted in their growth means their internal organs lose the ability to metabolize foods properly and their little brains are stunted too (the WHO calls these children “wasted” !) So we go to their Barangay with the meal and the
rice, we weight them, get them washing their hands and give them a 20 minute class. After they eat we let them check out a book from our little library (300 books donated so far) and then distribute the rice. We also give them vegetable starts so they can grow their own, a t shirt, toothbrushes and vitamins. So far we have restored 517 severely malnourished babies to health in 13 Barangays! We spend 2,000 pesos on the hot meal (about 50 usd) and 2,500 pesos on the rice (about 60 usd) every week for 12 weeks. Sometimes it takes us 14 weeks to restore all the babies to a healthy weight. A cost of about 40 usd per child for complete restoration. All donations, 100% buys food for these babies period, we have other accounts for administrative costs. currently we are only able to give them rice and it is important to their health that we can start giving protein in the form of canned foods, dried fish, eggs and milk.
rice, we weight them, get them washing their hands and give them a 20 minute class. After they eat we let them check out a book from our little library (300 books donated so far) and then distribute the rice. We also give them vegetable starts so they can grow their own, a t shirt, toothbrushes and vitamins. So far we have restored 517 severely malnourished babies to health in 13 Barangays! We spend 2,000 pesos on the hot meal (about 50 usd) and 2,500 pesos on the rice (about 60 usd) every week for 12 weeks. Sometimes it takes us 14 weeks to restore all the babies to a healthy weight. A cost of about 40 usd per child for complete restoration. All donations, 100% buys food for these babies period, we have other accounts for administrative costs. currently we are only able to give them rice and it is important to their health that we can start giving protein in the form of canned foods, dried fish, eggs and milk.
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