CapitaLand Hope Foundation donates P4.15 million to aid to 2,400 children in RP’s Visayas Region

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
October 18, 2010

TACLOBAN CITY  –  CapitaLand Hope Foundation, CapitaLand’s philanthropic arm, has donated S$125,000 or about P4.15 million, to provide nutritious food for malnourished children in the Philippines.

This project will benefit over 2,408 children suffering from malnutrition, from five schools in the Visayas region, particularly in Samar Island and Southern Leyte in Eastern Visayas, and Camotes Island of Central Visayas, who will be provided with supplementary feeding as well as Vitamin A and de-worming tablets, Totch dela Cruz of Plan Philippines informed the Philippine Information Agency.

Plan International will also use the funds to provide medical, dental checks and treatments, if necessary, and develop health education courses for the children.

Besides providing these children with nutritious food and healthcare, this project will help to raise children’s and parents’ awareness of proper nutrition and hygiene practices.

In addition, the schools will use the contribution to develop and maintain school-based vegetable farms to ensure long-term food security for the children.

Of the 2.58 million children between the ages of six and ten, in the Philippines, over 25% are considered underweight. This project is based in the Visayas areas of the Philippines and is supporting five schools where over a quarter of the school children are malnourished.

This means they are frequently subjected to bullying from their peers, suffer from malnutrition-related health problems, go to school hungry and often end up dropping out of school. This project will directly benefit 2,408 children and indirectly benefit 1,857 more children, as nutrition within the community improves.

Arthur Gindap, Country General Manager for the Philippines, The Ascott Limited, CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, said, "With CapitaLand’s Kids’ Food Fund program, we will be able to improve the nutrition of over 2,400 children in the Visayas region.”

“We hope that together with the strong support from Plan International, we will be able to bring about positive, sustainable changes to these children’s lives. Providing nutritious food for these children is in line with CapitaLand Hope Foundation’s focus on supporting program for the shelter, education and healthcare needs of underprivileged children,” he added.

For his part, Mike Diamond, Director of Plan Philippines said, “the partnership between CapitaLand and Plan International will help more children in the Philippines to overcome malnutrition so they can grow up healthy and be empowered to build a better future for themselves and the whole community.”

CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand, was established in 2005 to further CapitaLand’s corporate social responsibility commitment to build a better future for underprivileged children.