DAVAO CITY – Over 900 undernourished students benefited from the first School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Mati City, Davao Oriental, on Friday, September 29.
With the theme: “Kusina ni Nanay, Alagang MATIbay,” City Mayor’s Office technical staff Adam Lee said the goal of the feeding program is to reduce the number of students who attend classes hungry.
Eight schools were the first to implement the program – RRMCES-1, RRMCSPED Center, MLGR Memorial School, Belsonda Elementary School, Tagawisan Elementary School, Bliss Elementary School, Santiago Garcia Memorial School, and RRMCES-II as the Kitchen Lead School.
Lee said a total of 930 students benefited from the program, officially launched at the DepEd office in Mati City in partnership with the local government unit (LGU) and the Jollibee Food Corp. (JFC).
The feeding program will run for 17 weeks every Friday, during which the program organizer will provide iron-fortified rice to the children sourced from the DepEd fund, while the city will cover the expenses of the nutritional dishes purchased from the Kadiwa Store.
Lee said there is a possibility that the city government and the DepEd will include all school-age children aside from undernourished students in the feeding program.