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Saturday, April 29, 2006
Close to 300 children receive free food, toys
More malnourished children in four barangays in San Fernando, Cebu are now covered by a feeding program launched by two industrial firms in the municipality as part of their joint Social Development Management Program (SDMP).
Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI) and Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) are again putting their resources and logistics together to feed more underprivileged children in Barangays Ilaya, Tananas, Cabatbatan and North Poblacion.
The feeding program, which was done to children of the town’s eight ba-rangays last year, will again run on weekdays for three months or until May 26.
Employees of the two companies already served 200 children, according to Jerome Paz, TCPI senior manager for human resources and administration and who personally oversees the program.
Children from Barangays Magsico, Bugho, South Poblacion and Tonggo availed themselves of the program from July to October last year.
From November 2005 to January, children from Barangays Panadtaran, Tinubdan, Tabionan and Basak enjoyed the free feeding.
After the program was given to the eight ba-rangays, most of the children had normal weight levels, according to Dr. Amparo Florida, the prog-ram’s consultant from Go Ching Hai Foundation, which trained the children’s mothers in preparing simple yet nutritious food.
Florida noted that a few children remained malnourished, according to age and ideal weight levels.
Weight gain
But she stressed that the program significantly increased their weight by more than 50 percent from their original weight within the duration of the program.
“Their mothers only need to consistently keep feeding their children with nutritious food,” she pointed out, adding that the joint TCPI-SEDC team of community relations officers will monitor the progress of the children’s growth for evaluation and post-project analysis.
The two firms imple-mented the comprehensive and progressive feeding program under their consolidated SDMP, which they are implementing along with their integrated annual Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program, Paz disclosed.
The feeding program involves the municipal government, through the ba-rangay health centers that mobilized health workers, some of whom had to fetch the children with their mothers from upland areas.
Nutrition
TCPI personnel prepared milk and cooked the high grade protein formula at their plant’s canteen, as SEDC personnel delivered these every day to the four health centers, where the feeding is conducted and the mothers are being taught proper nutrition.
With the resumption of the program in four ba-rangays, some 85 chil-dren are expected to benefit from it, Paz added.
“Nutrition is a basic component of human life,” declared Toshio Komatsu, president and chief executive officer of TCPI, in a message during the launch of the feeding program.
“With proper nutrition, the children gain good health, and we all know that health is wealth,” he added.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 29, 2006 issue)
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