84 schools, 20 LGUs benefit from Jollibee’s program

JOLLIBEE Foundation’s Busog, Lusog, Talino (BLT) feeding program, which is implemented in cooperation with the Department of Education and the University of St. La Salle (USLS), is serving 84 schools and 20 local government units in Negros Occidental.

This was bared Tuesday at the USLS Sanctuario de La Salle during the 3rd BLT Negros Summit, which is part of the university’s 60th Jubilee Foundation Week celebration.

Jollibee Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Jollibee Foods Corporation, developed the BLT school feeding program in 2007 to address hunger among malnourished Grades 1 and 2 pupils.

BACOLOD. Jollibee Foundation president Grace Tan Caktiong and Talisay City Mayor Eric Saratan turn over one classroom to Catabla Elementary School in Talisay City as part of the foundation’s Build a Classroom project. (Contributed photo)

The foundation partners with public and private sectors in the local communities to ensure better health and nutrition among public schoolchildren nationwide.

USLS vice chancellor Geoffrey Bob Bergante welcomed the participants to the summit and acknowledged the great work that BLT partners have done for the benefit of the young pupils.

"2012 is a year of accomplishments and challenges and definitely a year that we can be proud of," he said.

"We celebrate 60 years of transforming lives, building communities and shaping futures," Bergante added.

"This summit is part and parcel of this celebration. We decided that this will be part of the celebration for it clearly concretizes and manifests our strong partnership with all of you – a partnership built on mutual trust and commitment, a partnership founded on the same belief that, when people come together, we can make things happen and we can make a positive difference," he said.

The partnership, he said, is "strengthened by our common concern for the future of this country - young boys and girls who have been entrusted to our care."

Bergante pointed out that, on the occasion of the USLS Diamond Jubilee, they take on a much greater challenge as the school-based feeding program will be implemented in 20 LGU sites with 84 BLT school partners.

Bergante cited a United Nations World Food Programme study, which states that offering nutritious meals in school boosts enrolment and motivates attendance and improves learning ability among pupils. (Carla N. Canet)