IN THE BEGINNING
The Peter Project began in early 2013. We named it after St. Peter the Apostle, who was a fisherman before he was called to be a “fisher of men.” The project started as an initiative to provide motorized fishing boats to fisherman’s helpers who were earning only about P50 (a little over $1.00) a day, but had the potential to earn more if they had boats of their own.
After super typhoon Haiyan devastated many parts of the Visayas on November 8, 2013, the project quickly expanded to help fishermen whose boats were destroyed by this disaster. For several typhoons after, such as Typhoon Odette, we reached out to fishermen in need. Through the Peter Project, we were able to help many fishermen reclaim their source of income. We would not have been able to do this without generous donations from individuals, charity groups, local governments, and corporations.
THE PETER PROJECT TODAY
At the start of the project, we took care of manufacturing the boats and gave people livelihood opportunities through this effort. We trained seaside residents how to make the boats and oversaw the operations. Nowadays, we no longer handle the manufacturing process. We have turned over the technology of making motorized fiberglass fishing boats to two of the seaside communities we served in the past. This has allowed them to offer livelihood opportunities to more people in their communities and to run the business on their own.
Would you like to share the gift of a fishing boat with someone? Sponsorship of a boat starts at P42,000 (price may vary slightly depending on where the boat will be delivered).
MAINTAINING CLOSE TIES
To this day, we continue to work closely with the fishermen in communities near us. For instance, during the Covid 19 Pandemic, we bought dried fish for community pantries and our food bank directly from these communities. Since we have eliminated the middleman, the fishermen earned more than they would have had they gone through the usual channels. Their catch reached far inland and was served on the tables of those supported by The Feeding Force Project. We are grateful to these fishermen for having been our partners in the fight against the Covid 19 crisis.
Now, during the ongoing energy crisis, we are once more buying dried fish for The Feeding Force Project 2026 from fishermen. Because fishermen can rarely go out to fish now due to the high prices of diesel, they too sometimes receive food through our food distribution.
Email [email protected] for more information about this project.
