Nutrition program for Payatas children

MANILA, Philippines—The Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF), a philanthropic nongovernment organization providing assistance to poor and underprivileged sectors, will fund the feeding of malnourished children from poor families residing in Barangay (village) Payatas, Quezon City.

The funding, to be done in partnership with the University of the Philippines Law Class of 1978, will go to a feeding center operated by Payatas Orione Foundation Inc. (PAOFI), a nongovernment organization implementing health, nutrition and education programs for children and tuberculosis patients from poor families in Payatas and in Lucena City and Mauban, Quezon.

Under the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with PAOFI, the WCKF and the UP Law Class of 1978 will provide one nutritious meal per day for one year for 75 children in one of PAOFI’s feeding centers in Payatas.

The meal includes a therapeutic food supplement initially provided only to malnourished tuberculosis patients but later found to be effective for malnourished children of poor families.

The supplement, which can be spread on bread or mixed with rice, consists of peanut butter paste, coconut oil, soya, micronutrients, multivitamins, sugar and powdered milk.

Signing the MOA at formal ceremonies held recently at the WCKF office on Sultana Street in Makati City were James Vincent Navarette, WCKF general manager; Fr. Martin Mroz, PAOFI executive director; and Antonio Ocampo, Mighty Corp. (MC) general counsel and representative of UP Law Class of 1978.

Navarette said WCKF was exploring other ways to help PAOFI other than through its feeding program.

“With our network, we can help provide additional assistance. When I visited Payatas, I thought that was the worst. But I have seen PAOFI areas in Quezon that are even worse than that,” he said.