a FOOD REVOLUTION made possible

Bae Inatlawan preparing the check for the Daraghuyan lemon grass project.  A hands-on realtime training by GreenMinded, Inc. - 10/22/09 by mary jean netario cruz

The lemon grass project is a project that had been identified for the Daraghuyan Tribal Community in Mt. Kitanglad, Malaybalay City.  It was conceptualized our of a desire to help the community to be free economically.  My journey had led me to UP Los Banos, Geox Farms, AIDFI, the Gold in Grass, and other  different farms and communities in the Philippines.  Looking for technical information, searching for answers to understand and longing to see the realization of this dream.  Finally, we had planted the first seedling. Samdahana Institute has been instrumental through funding the initial phase of the propagation and distillation machine.  Ferdinand Cruz of EASTI made it possible too.  We have just started, but vision is better now that we have started the propagation by 1,000 sqm nursery at the heritage center.  Another thousand sqm is to be planted by the tribe as we have completed the first five thousand and it grows bigger and bigger. Lemon grass is to be planted in areas not use for the vegetables. Six months after, we will start the distillation of lemon grass oil.  We will be producing lemon grass concentrate too. 

The lemon grass project is envisioned to be rolled out to other communities as part of the Memorandum of Agreement with the GreenMinded, Inc.

Lemon Grass project is another initiative of Soup of the Day.

Dalawampu't limang taong singkad ang nakalipas, may nabago ba sa klaseng ito ng Malaya School?  Ang Malaya, Pililla, Rizal ay isang maliit na barangay ng Pililla, Rizal.  Ito ang pinakahuling barangay na iyong mararating kung ikaw ay magmumula sa Maynila.  Ito ang tahanan ng magigiting na magkakaeskwela.  Makalipas ang limang taon mula ng mag-uganayang muli ang klase, sila ay  nagkita-kitang muli ng dahil kay Ondoy.  Isang pagsasama-samang walang plano subalit naganap sa masidhing pagnanasang makatulong sa nasalanta ng bagyong Undoy sa Pililla.  Ang bayan ng Pililla ay malayo sa sentrong pinsala ng bagyong Ondoy, iyon ang maling pag-aakala ng karamihan.  Ito ay sa kadahilanang sa kasagsaan ng bagyong Undoy ang pagsalantang rto ay hindi naririnig sa radyo o nakikita at nababasa telebisyon o dyaryo.  Ang mga baha at pagguho ng lupa na naghiway sa Pililla sa kamaynilaan ang isang dahilan kung bakit hindi nakakarating ang mga tulong dito mula sa naglalakihang organisasyong tumatanggap ng donasyon.

Ang kagya't na panawagan ng tulong sa mga taga Barangay  sa pamamagitan ng yahoo group ng barangay Malaya ay mabilis na isinagawa kasabay ang paghingi ng tulong mula sa mga grupong tumatanggap ng mga donasyon.  Nagdatingan ang ayuda at isinaayos ang pagbabalot at pamamahagi ng  mga ito.  Dagdag dito ay tulong mula sa Assumption Antipolo, Foliage, Cottonwoods and Cascades Homeowners Association, KIDS Foundation, mga kaibigan, kasamahan, kamag-anak, at kaibigan ng mga kaibigan.  Ipinamahagi ito sa lahat ng nasasakupan ng Pililla, Rizal.  Naunang mamahagi sa Barangay ng Hulo, Malaya, Niogan, Quisao, Wawa at Takungan.  Ang barangay Wawa ay may tatlong lugar na inisa-isang bigyan ng grupo upang tiyak na makarating ang maliit na tulong sa mga nangangailangan.  Namahagi rin sa bayan ng Tanay na nadaanan ang kalunos lunos na sinapit ng mga nakatira sa mga gilid ng agos.

Relief Operation - last batch for Pililla, Rizal

The last batch of Relief goods for Pililla were delivered by the Malaya School Batch 8084 in the three areas of  Wawa and Pulo.  Barangay Wawa is under water.  We delivered direct to the beneficiaries.  The locals offered their bancas for free so we can go direct to families who have not left their houses.  We went to the market where evacuees stay followed by the distribution in the  tent place uphill.  It was already dinner time when we reached the last barangay called Pulo.  They build their shanties uphill because their houses are no longer livable.  The two boxes of medicines for fever and cough from KIDS foundation is of great help. Each box contains 144 bottles.  We prioritize children 1 year old and under to benefit from the supplied medicine.  Those who are older but really need it, we gave too.  We requested the parents to ask only if their children are sick and share it with others who needed it but was not able to receive due to limited supply.

The remaining pledges once received will be given to victims of Pepeng in Dagupan, Pangasinan.  They have been asking assistance and we are now accepting donations for them. 

The Malaya School Batch 80 and Batch 84 joint effort to help the best way they can was unanimous in action to deliver.  Taking time out from their usual activities to collect, pack and deliver is a great example that you need not be a big group or a known NGO to make the difference.

Sa isang sigaw ng paghingi ng tulong, kaagyat na tumugon ang mga taga Malaya, mga kaibigan at hindi mga kakilala.  Isang desisyong pinalakas at binagtibay ng sama-samang pagkilos.  Sa tahanan nina Marilyn Iglesias Domingo at Louie Domingo ginawa ang pag-iimpake ng mga pagkain.  Katulong sa pangongolekta ng donasyon sina Dolores Buenaventura, Analie Materiano, Shirley Umali, Rosalie Villas, Reggie Materiano at Oliveros Guinto.  Kasama sa pamamahagi ang mga kalalakihan na pinangunahan ni Luisito Domingo habang ang nagsilbing giya kung saan ito ipamamahagi ay si Antonio Aragon.

Ang perang ginamit sa pamamahaging ito ng tulong ay naipon ni Fernando Lacampuenga na kasalukayang nag hahanapbuhay sa Qatar.  Sa pamamagitan ng panawagan sa kanyang mga kasamahan sa hanapbuhay at mga kaibigan, sya ay nakalikom ng salapi at ipinadala sa grupo.  Nagbigay rin ang mga kaeskwela na sina Alejandro Castillo at Enrique Diego gayundin ang Foliage Hills-Cottonwoods and Cascades Home Owners Association in Antipolo Rizal.  Maraming salamat kina Engr. Julius Cruz at G. Cesar Mapua sa salapi, groceries at pera na ipingkaloob.  Humigit kumulang sa 600 katao ang nakinabang sa operasyong ito.

Saludo ang inyong lingkod sa walang pag-aatubiling tugon sa sigaw ng saklolo ng bayan ng Pililla!  Mabuhay!

Maraming Salamat sa inyong pagtitiwala.

Matapos ang pamamahagi sa Malaya ay ang Niogan naman ang aming isinunod. Ang apektado sa lugar na ito ay ang mga nasa tabing lawa din. Patuloy na dumarating ang mga donasyon mula sa mga kababayang nais na makatulong. Salamat sa KIDS Foundation,Lacampuenga Family, Joseph and Neri Hilario, EASTI at Soup of the Day. Sa High School Batch '84 na sina Lyn, Oliver, Sally, Leng, Reggie at Analie sa pangangasiwa ng pamamahagi. Kay Fernando Lacampuenga na patuloy na nangangalap ng tulong sa mga kababayan sa Qatar.Kay Franz Lim of Bohol, Kay Joselito Pillas at sa mga iba pang hindi ko na maalala. Maraming salamat ang pahatid ng ating mga natulungan.

Sa isang panawagan ng pagtulong, maraming mga kabarangay ang tumugon.  Naipamahagi ang tulong na nalikom sa mga pamilyang nalubog sa pagtaas ng lawa ng Laguna.  Himigit kumulang sa 200 bags ng pagkain ang naipamahagi sa Malaya. Mga bags ng pagkain, mga tsinelas at diapers na mula sa KIDS Foundation, pamilya Lacampuenga at donasyon ng Batch '84.  Patuloy pang nangangalap ng tulong ang grupo para sa karatig baranggay.

Pililla and Tanay are two towns far from the center of relief goods distribution.  These towns are not receiving relief goods.  According to the Mayor of Pililla, Mayor Leandro Masikip, the allocated disaster funds to the town of Pililla is not even enough to help one barangay and there are four Barangays heavily damaged.  Until now, the areas in Hulo looks like a ghost town.  They have been trying to clear out the remnants of the flood.

Soup of the Day is not a non-profit business since it initiatives is Social Entrepreneurship.  We help the community to be economically free and we have the integrity to pool donations that we ensure your donations will be received by ONDOY's victims in Pililla, Rizal.

Our Homeowners Associations in Antipolo is pooling donations for Pililla, same is true with KIDS Foundation. Malaya  residents are also collecting donations that can help too.  I am appealing to Big Foundations receiving outpouring of donations to please channel a little of  your donations to Pililla and Tanay, Rizal.

You may connect with me at celphone number +639178546851, +639225631672 and +63921008961 to distribute relief goods in the areas specified.

Another community crying for help! Yes they admit, their life is at risk but only if there is another source of income that can help them bridge every day of their survival. Who would not want to secure seeing their love ones alive every after hydraulic mining activity? Their river is dead, authorities hunting them for illegal mining, but should they wait to die of hunger rather than to make the most of what they have? They need help, genuine help that can bring back their dignity. We DARE to explore possibilities for them.

GK Roque 1 is the beneficiary of the KIDS Foundation Feeding Program. The program will be feeding 100 children, one snack a day, 5 times a week for a period of six months starting September 1, 2009. Soup Of the Day (SOD) is mentoring the mothers to serve nutritious yet economically prepared food. The neighborhood agreed to plant herbs and vegetables that will augment the nutritional values of the food they will serve and at the same time addressing their food safety and security.

The operation of the food to be served to the children is anchored on Social Entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial challenge is to meet the goals at P18/meal budget per kid funded by L'oreal.  The mothers under SOD mentoring took the challenge and believed that together they can operate the feeding operation at a profit. The profit will be used to fund other projects such as planting vegetables or ended up operating a Soup of the Day catering business in their neighborhood.

Professionals are tapped to help the mothers in their entrepreneurship challenge! Everyone is excited, they take ownership and responsibility for this pilot feeding program of KIDS anchored on Entrepreneurship. 

The mothers are in need of kitchen equipments and utensils that they will use in their catering business. Should you have any of these kitchen items that you have no use, please call KIDS foundation or Soup of the Day at 09178546851.

Please visit http://www.kidsfoundation.org.ph

Xavier University Social Outreach partnered with Soup of the Day in mentoring a new breed of Entrepreneurs.  The concept framework is to do business while addressing social problems honing the entrepreneurial spirits of the students while embarking into this business activities having in mind that profit is not the ultimate consideration but a means for sustainability.

How we can achieve this goal?  The Student Entrepreneurship Program Participants will be selected to be grouped based on their interests and skills.  They will run a food kiosk business called Soup of the Day in the four campuses of Xavier University Ateneo CDO.  They will go through a process of conceptualizing, developing, sourcing, production, distribution, selling and managing the whole business cycle within a period of one year.  Every year thereafter, a new batch will continue running the business.   The participants will be learning the importance of organic farming as they work with community based livelihood who is planting the organic ingredients of their products. 

The Bayanga Elementary and High School has been chosen to benefit from this operation. The beneciaries will be planting hersb and vegetables that they  can supply to SOD SEP as well as using it in their Bayanga kiosk operation.

Learning while Earning, Earning while Helping, Teaching while providing Solution to Social problems through experiential and participatory methodology anchored on Social Entrepreneurship makes this project sexy, interesting and exciting.

A loop of producers, social entrepreneurs, social investors and consumers is created in this concept to ensure sustainability of the project.  Support from the government and other agencies is looped as well.