2,000 children benefit from feeding programs

Around 1,500 to 2,000 schoolchildren in Cebu benefited from the feeding programs of the government aimed at "improving the nutritional status and addressing the hunger situation" of targeted beneficiaries in identified pilot areas.

Marieta Paloso, Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 program coordinator of the supplemental feeding and food-for-the-school programs, revealed that southern towns like Badian and Sibonga, and Tabogon in the north have been identified as the pilot-municipalities where pre-schoolers aged three to five years old are given meals consisting of hot milk and enriched bread everyday from Monday to Friday.

Apart from the supplemental feeding that ran through the summer period, the beneficiaries coming from DSWD-accredited day care centers also get to bring home a kilo of rice daily during summertime to help alleviate the hunger situation of poverty-stricken families.

In order to boost income of local dairy farmers, the DSWD-7 said they buy their milk locally.

Regionwide, the pro-poor programs have benefited about 9,040 schoolchildren from 16 deprived towns. The provinces of Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor each have three pilot areas for the programs, and seven towns in Oriental Negros.

Paloso said the supplemental feeding program has an estimated budget of P3.4 million and more or less a similar budget has been allocated for the food-for-the-school program.

The DSWD-7 food assistance to the beneficiaries is not limited to simple feeding alone, but they are also educating the parents on how to prepare nutritional foods for their children, espouse values and improve the caring capacity of the mothers, according to Paloso. - Gregg M. Rubio