SM Olongapo Feeding Project

August 30, 2014September 19, 2014 Vic Vizcocho 0 Comments

SM Feeds Indigent Kids. (top photo) Seventy (70) severely malnourished Grade 1 to 3 pupils of Barretto II Elementary School enjoy the food prepared by SM Olongapo during the feeding activity on August 29, 2014. (above)SM Olongapo employees assist in the feeding activity in Barretto II Elementary School. (SMOL)

A total of 70 severely malnourished school children in Grade 1 to 3 benefitted in the SM City Olongapo feeding project last August 29, 2014 in Barretto II Elementary School.

SM granted the request of the school to support the feeding program which is in line with DepEd’s School Based Feeding Program (SBFP).

According to Antonio Edquiban, school principal, “these pupils are among the children who need special attention in order to achieve their desired body weight. We have to monitor their weight because it is in this process that we can determine if the child is healthy or malnourished”.

The feeding activity was headed by SM Olongapo Asst. Mall Manager Bong Garcia together with Leasing Manager Jasmine Casim, Marketing Manager Phillip Sazon, SM officers, employees and agencies.

“We’re happy to be here and feed these kids, it’s really our pleasure, we hope that in our own little way, we were able to help them achieve their goal (weight gain), which is basically the purpose of this feeding activity,” said Garcia,

In addition to the feeding, SM also donated notebooks and pens to the kids.

Aside from this activity, SM across the country also offers college scholarships, medical missions, farmers’ trainings and builds, donates and maintains classrooms and school buildings to public schools. The Foundation also renovates and maintains wellness centers in public hospitals and health care centers.

Under the SM Cares Program, a division of SM Foundation, persons with disability, the elderly, youth, women, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families are also given special attention.

Based on research, DepEd said the prevalence of severely malnourished among school aged children in Region 10 for SY 2013 stands at 3.12%, ranking 4th in the Northern Mindanao region.

Supplemental feeding is one of DepEd’s three programs in support of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN). The two others are school weighing and mainstreaming/integration of nutrition education in the school curriculum.(PR-SMOL)