Many farmers, like those in Davao, have a hard time finding enough buyers for their produce. This was exacerbated during the COVID-19 and the ensuring lockdowns, despite community quarantine guidelines allowing for unhampered flow of essential goods like vegetables in the market.
To support these farmers, the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) partnered with Dana Foundation, Inc. on a project called Food Ration Drive. Under this initiative, Dana Foundation buys vegetables from smallholder farmers who are part of JGF’s Farmer’s Entrepreneurship Program (FEP). These vegetables are cooked into meals, which are then distributed to frontline health workers and checkpoint personnel in Davao.
Parents who were trained under JGF’s Busog-Lusog-Talino (BLT) Kitchen Programs were tapped to cook the meals at the BLT Kitchen in Cambanogoy Elementary School in Davao del Norte.
Through this joint initiative with JGF, the Dana Foundation has supported 35 farmers and have distributed 3,250 meals and 250 bags of assorted vegetables to checkpoint personnel and to frontline medical workers stationed at the Davao Regional Medical Center, one of the two designated medical institutions to treat COVID-19 patients in the region.
“We are glad to see that the BLT facilities, trainings to parents and farmers, and networks we have established in these communities are being put to good use especially during this time of need,” said JGF Executive Director Gisela Tiongson.
“We counted ourselves lucky to already have partnerships in place with the Jollibee Group through the Busog-Lusog-Talino (BLT) Kitchen and Farmer’s Entrepreneurship Program (FEP). But they have exceeded our expectations by extending their support to us and our community-partners through their FoodAid Program. We are thankful that we have found in them partners that we know we can truly depend on,” said Nelben Moreno, Dana Foundation Executive Director.
Long-time partners
The Dana Foundation has served as the local implementing arm of JGF in Davao for BLT and FEP since 2013. This entails, among others, fund management, facilitation of local trainings, and nomination of farmer beneficiaries.
JGF’s BLT Program was created to support the Department of Education’s School-Based Feeding Program. BLT School Feeding Kitchens centralize the preparation of meals that are distributed to surrounding schools, feeding hundreds of pupils per kitchen with less time and effort.
Meanwhile, FEP seeks to help smallholder farmers become agro-entrepreneurs through a combination of technical and leadership trainings. JGF also links farmer-beneficiaries to corporate buyers, including the brands under the Jollibee Group.
Cooperation in times of crisis
The Jollibee Group has allocated P220 million-worth of food for frontliners and communities to help cope through the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 3, 2020, JGF has completed the P220 million donation. Of this, P100 million was used to provide meals for 1.3 million health and checkpoint frontliners throughout the country.
Meanwhile, the P120 million was used to provide food packs to 515,512 indigent families, as well as providing food donations to 27 community kitchens serving frontliners and communities. This was done in coordination with various public and private institutions to distribute food aid to lower income sectors of the society.
The Dana Foundation is one of several partners of the Jollibee Group to distribute food quickly and safely to frontliners and families in need under the FoodAid Program.
The Dana Foundation is a social development organization that supports local communities in Mindanao through programs centered around Education, Health and Nutrition, Environmental Protection, and Enterprise Development.
For interested donors, Dana Foundation, Inc. is still accepting donations. You may send your donations through the following channels: Security Bank (Account Name: Dana Foundation, Inc. / Account No.: 000-000-754-0270); BDO (Account Name: Dana Foundation, Inc. / Account No.: 0018-7006-0995); and GCash (Mobile Number: 09989692042).
