ACED partners with In-visible Organisation for their Food Augmentation Program

The Ateneo Center for Educational Development (ACED) partnered with In-visible Organisation for a Food Augmentation Program that ran from November 2021 to September 2022. The program was able to benefit 250 beneficiaries from Holy Spirit Elementary School (HSES) and 100 beneficiaries from Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School (JFBSHS). Prior to this engagement, the partnership between In-visible Organisation and ACED that commenced in 2014 involved providing in-school meals to malnourished children in HSES.

Through this program, food pack rations are sent to the families of stunted or malnourished public school children in order to improve educational outcomes. A food pack consists largely of vegetables, root crops, and fruits sourced directly from farmers in Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan.

Based on the end-of-program report submitted by ACED to In-Visible Organisation, the beneficiaries found that the FAP helped their families financially by decreasing their expenses given the reliable source of daily meals through the food packs, allowing them to spend more on  meat or seafood for more nutritious daily meals. According to a beneficiary’s parent from HSES, “Sobrang laki po ng tulong ng mga gulay na iyong binibigay. Magana kumain ang aking mga anak ng gulay kaya napakasaya ko ng isa ang anak ko sa napili upang mabahagian nito. Nakakatulong sa pagpapalakas ng kanilang katawan at higit sa lahat nakakabawas sa budget sa pang araw araw.” The parents also noticed an improvement in their children’s overall health, appetite, and energy, noting a healthy weight gain and proactiveness in school. A beneficiary’s parent from JFBSHS said, “Hindi sila basta basta nagkakaroon ng sakit. Dahil sa maintained po nila ang pagkain ng masustansyang mga gulay at masipag sa pag-aaral.”

This Food Augmentation Program is part of a larger initiative by ACED to feed as many stunted or malnourished public school students to improve educational outcomes with the support of donors and partners like In-Visible Organisation.

For more information, please contact Ms. Ainah Hanna Dumagsa at aced@ateneo.edu. To support the program, you may purchase ACED Christmas e-cards for a donation of at least P120. P120 is enough to augment the meals of beneficiaries for one week.

For more details, you may visit https://tinyurl.com/ACEDChristmas2022.

See the ACED-In-visible Organisation Food Augmentation Program Report below: