By Khriscielle Yalao
Fifty families from the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of Mandaluyong City received food packs on Thursday, Dec. 23, from members of the Station Community Affairs Section (SCAS) of the Mandaluyong City Police Station (MCPS) as part of its “Adopt a Family” program and “Palit Basura” project.
The “Adopt a Family” program aims to help alleviate poverty by giving grocery packs to families, school materials to children, and conducting feeding programs twice a week to the poorest of the poor and those mostly affected by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the “Palit Basura” project encourages residents to give recyclable trash to the SCAS office in exchange for a food pack, in collaboration with Barangay Addition Hills’ “Eco Bricks” project which turns shredded plastics into hollow blocks.
Representatives of each family claimed the food packs at the SCAS Office in the MCPS Headquarters in Brgy. Plainview, Mandaluyong City.
Each food pack contained five kilos of rice, four canned goods, four packs of noodles, a pack of Bear Brand milk, and a pack of Nescafe coffee.
In a phone interview, PLt. Jurana Ollaging said they often distribute food packs because that’s the best way to provide poor families with their immediate needs.
SCAS conducts numerous outreach programs for vulnerable sectors of the community like children, the elderly, and single mothers.
The SCAS MCPS conducted their own Christmas gift-giving programs wherein they distributed food packs to 200 families on Dec. 11 and to 100 families on Dec. 14.
Ollaging said they will also distribute food packs to detainees on Christmas Eve.
SCAS conducts their activities in line with the Family Juvenile Gender And Development (FJGAD) initiative that focuses on the welfare of poor families and the empowerment of women and children.