3 Simple Ways to Help Eradicate Hunger and Poverty in the Philippines

Hunger and poverty have always been partners in our society. The poverty level goes higher every year despite the effort of a few who are willing to learn financial freedom. But since we couldn't solve financial literacy overnight, let's focus on 3 simple ways to help eradicate hunger and poverty in the Philippines.

Pay It Forward

Filipinos are helpful especially to those authentically needy, like children from all over the country who have no source for one of their basic needs, food. The good news is we can help eradicate hunger and poverty by participating in or contributing to “Pay It Forward”.

Pay It Forward is a program which adopts the pay-it-forward attitude. This is the path where sharing begins with you. It is initiated by Al Fabon, who handles Millennium Development Goals monitoring, wherein the goals are set to be achieved by 2015. 

According to Al, Goal 1 and 2 truly made sense to him, which prompted the launching of the Pay It Forward program. His aim, to eradicate malnutrition within the month in Banton, Romblon is one of many.

3 Simple Ways to Pay It Forward:

1. Share your blessings

Donate a VitaMeal Bag and provide a child with one nutritious meal each day for a month. One VitaMeal Bag costs Php1,200.

VitaMeal

2. Give your time

Volunteer by helping to facilitate the program. The initial weigh-in of children and serving of first meal is happening on December 26, 2011 in Banton, Romblon. The program will run until January 25, 2012 where in another weigh-in will be done.

Yes, YOU CAN!

3. Spread the word

If you neither have both finances and time, then spread the news so other people may be informed about this wonderful opportunity to give and to help feed these kids. Like it on Facebook, Tweet it, blog about it, any way you know to let it be known to others. 

Generosity Revolution

Feeding of children will be done by Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) in each barangay. Parents will be provided with Pay It Forward monitoring card which the parents need to present to the BNS each time the beneficiary gets his/her meal. The BNS in return will validate the monitoring card each time he/she provides the meal to the beneficiary. This monitoring card ensures that the program will be taken seriously by the parents. Besides, ending malnutrition is truly a collaborative effort.

All donors will each be assigned with a child. By assigning a donor to each recipient, we keep our accountability to the donors. Should donations exceed 54 bags, the program will rerun the following month after completing the monitoring and evaluation of the first month of program implementation. Banton, Romblon is an island municipality in region IV-B. It is a 5th class municipality with more or less seven thousand populations. Banton is the birthplace of the Father of Philippine Independence.

Sweet Says... Give children the hope for a brighter day by starting with a nutritious meal. Creating a ripple effect through an act of giving will mean the world to them. Not only do we feed them physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. The message will be clear to them that they too deserve to be blessed.


Donate a VitaMeal bag now for these Bantoanon children:
Account Name: Alvaro F. Fabon Jr.
BPI Savings Account Number: 3909-1879-22
BPI Branch: Sta.Mesa


To know more about Pay It Forward, Click HERE!

The History of Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey will inspire you

What is Soul Kitchen?

photo by carbonNYC

It is a community restaurant without a price on its menu. The customers pay what they can afford; but if you are unable to pay, you may do volunteer work in exchange for your families meals.

The Inspiration, Revelation, and Motivation behind Soul Kitchen

The idea for the JBJ Soul Kitchen was inspired by a news story on NBC Nightly News. The story was about a restaurant called the SAME (So All May Eat) Café in Denver, Colorado. The SAME Café was a place where people in need of a hot meal could be served with dignity and respect, and volunteer as a form of payment. (read more...)


Via Kitchen Stories

photo by Dustin Racioppi

Jon Bon Jovi's non profit, JBJ Soul Foundation teamed with St. Anthony of Padua to open "Soul Kitchen" to offer meals to the the indigent. Ed Markiewicz, who runs the church's food pantry said that this has gotten a phenomenal response. 


Markiewicz has about 80 volunteers, and so far the restaurant has averaged about 75 people for the seven dinners held there. He says that it is more than just a place to grab a bite but "It's that type of experience where you'll sit down with different people at different stations in life and hopefully learn something."


Via Dustin Racioppi

WATCH THIS PROMO VIDEO FOR SOUL KITCHEN

"Plans by Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Foundation to open a freestanding pay-what-you can community restaurant in Red Bank sailed to approval Monday night, when the borough’s planning board all but rolled out the red carpet for the high-profile rocker’s team of engineers, attorneys and architects.


The OK clears the way for the non-profit Soul Kitchen, the community-minded project led by the pop star’s wife, Dorothea, to break ground on renovations to the three-bay former repair shop near the western end of Monmouth Street." (read more...)


Via Dustin Racioppi

photo by Lohb

Sweet Says ... I hope that a lot of people will be inspired as I have been with Bon Jovi's advocacy to feed the hungry. Sharing our blessings to the needy may seem simple, but doing it without anything in return or to pay it forward is nothing but noble. When I achieve one of my dreams, earning passive income, I will put up a Soul Kitchen inspired place here in the Philippines.