Implementation Period: December 2022 to September 2023

Grant given by SCBPMM for this project: $7,500

The program in Hilltop Open Space Community, Lagro, Quezon City is ongoing and as of 15 August 2023 the distribution of food packs is on its 25th week. The program is expected to end by November 2023. Through the Grant, the project intends to directly serve 90 families where there are pregnant young women or children from age one day until 12 years old. This target number has been met, with 13 pregnant young women and 77 children from one month old to 12 years old in the roster of beneficiaries since the start of the program last 1 December 2022. Three of the pregnant women have since given birth and all were live births. Additionally, the distribution team which consists of individuals from the same community also receive the same food packs which ACED provides. This brings the number to 95 families that benefit from the program. These additional families have expressed that food packs also help their families financially and give them a sense of assurance that their families are eating healthy food.

More than 400 individuals have benefited from the program which includes the extended family members of the primary beneficiaries. Of the 90 families enlisted in the program, 64 families have 3 to 5 family members each, while 26 families have 6 to 11 family members.

Students from the Developmental Studies Program of the Ateneo de Manila have conducted seminars for the benefit of selected beneficiaries of the program. Based on an assessment of training needs in preparation for the seminars, three topics stood out and served as basis for three modules:

Module 1: Child Development Awareness –an overview of how children grow, develop, and learn. Module 2: Positive Discipline –helping the participants reflect upon their concept of disciplining children. Module 3: Parenting Style –making the mothers aware of their parenting style and encouraging them to rear their children in a more balanced manner.

Each module was attended by 10 to 15 mothers from the program. They expressed that they enjoyed and appreciated the inputs provided in each session. The modules have been endorsed for ACED implementation in similar groups in the future.

The program also continues to help farmers from Benguet, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan. Vegetables, root crops, and fruits are purchased from the farmers in volume every week. Other donated items such as bread, milk, canned products, pasta, and instant noodles are also added to the food packs as these come.

It has been said that healthy eating habits are not acquired overnight or through a lecture. The beneficiaries have expressed their realization of the benefits of healthy eating on themselves and on their children. Getting the children used to vegetables, root crops, and fruits early in life holds promise as far as their future health and wellness are concerned. Overall, the beneficiaries are grateful for the weekly food packs. This intervention has helped them financially. Importantly, the well-baby check-up visits to the community clinic indicate that the children are gaining the expected weight for their age.

Community volunteers serve as an important component of the project implementation chain. The ownership of the initiative by this group has contributed to the successful implementation of the program. The program also continues to benefit other individuals who are struggling to earn a living, specifically the farmers from whom the food products were obtained, the jeepney drivers who transported the food packs from the packing area to the school, and the daily wage earners who help prepare the food packs.