Placeholder text. In January 2018, NVC came across a newspaper article on a child from Zamboanga del Sur who died of malnutrition. This set the NVC Team in motion, on a search for the child’s home village, nowing that there should be more with the same condition who needed to be helped. In the remote village called Glab, accessed only by a nine hour ride from the City of Zamboanga, plus two hours on horseback where roads have stopped, NVC found and fed 175 children with Mingo Meals daily for six months, 60 of which were renewed for another six months.

Placeholder text. In mid-2018, a young doctor-to-the-barrios volunteer discovered NVC through an internet search. She sought help for 168 children with need of nutritional support that she found in Dinagat Island. Results were so positive that even after the usual six-month Mingo Meals protocol, the province continued to access the meal for its malnourished children, purchasing the product on its own. It was initially a challenge when couriers had no links to the island, but the LGU pursued by sending its truck all the way to NVC’s production plant just to acquire Mingo Meals for the province’s malnourished children. 

Placeholder text. In January 2018, NVC came across a newspaper article on a child from Zamboanga del Sur who died of malnutrition. This set the NVC Team in motion, on a search for the child’s home village, nowing that there should be more with the same condition who needed to be helped. In the remote village called Glab, accessed only by a nine hour ride from the City of Zamboanga, plus two hours on horseback where roads have stopped, NVC found and fed 175 children with Mingo Meals daily for six months, 60 of which were renewed for another six months.

Placeholder text. In mid-2018, a young doctor-to-the-barrios volunteer discovered NVC through an internet search. She sought help for 168 children with need of nutritional support that she found in Dinagat Island. Results were so positive that even after the usual six-month Mingo Meals protocol, the province continued to access the meal for its malnourished children, purchasing the product on its own. It was initially a challenge when couriers had no links to the island, but the LGU pursued by sending its truck all the way to NVC’s production plant just to acquire Mingo Meals for the province’s malnourished children. 

The eruption of Taal Volcano on January 12, 2020 caught the country by surprise. But because LOVE delivers, neither distance nor the volcano’s fury deterred NVC from shipping an initial 24,000 Mingo Meals merely two days after.  NVC’s engagement for emergency relief in Taal and areas around it covered 16 evacuation centers in 13 towns in two provinces.  We delivered 96,280 Mingo Meals and also helped facilitate the distribution of ______ water etc etc (Jalandoni donation). Read more

The provision of Mingo Meals was made possible by donors from various parts of the world. A substantial portion was raised through the Mikel Lovina Jamborun, an annual FunRun which, organized by a family in memory of a loved one, this time benefited the Taal cause. Runners across the archipelago (and Singapore, _____ and ______) clocked their runs in exchange for one Mingo Meal for every kilometer ran. The Run for Taal raised ____ Mingo Meals.

The worldwide crisis wrought by COVID-19 hurled NVC into an arena that, like almost everyone else, was not in its action plans for the year.

As COVID-19 was beginning to enter the Philippines, NVC immediately shipped the balance of Mingo Meals needed to complete the six-month period for children enrolled in the program.  This meant shipping to Camarines Norte in Luzon, Samar in the Visayas, and Davao del Norte in Mindanao to insure that children under the Mingo Meals protocol would not be wanting in their supply requirements in the event that lockdowns will deter mobility and shipments.  Another 100,000 Mingo Meals were given to the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental to help insure adequate food sources for the general population, especially the children. The Mingo factory accelerated its output, ultimately producing another_______ for donations generated to help solve hunger problems in households whose incomes were compromised due to lockdowns because of the COVID-19 crisis.

To immediately respond to a major need in its home province, NVC immediately shifted gears from its usual nutrition, education and livelihood programs, to organize a network that produced PPE’s for frontliners totaling _____ face shields and _____ lab gowns which were distributed to _____ hospitals, health centers and ______.  Overseen and managed by NVC,  this became the first major source of PPEs in Negros Occidental, managed by a non-government organization. It galvanized the active participation of donors and volunteers, from DIY craftsmen for faceshields to volunteer housewives and matrons who sewed gowns.  The project also was able to provide livelihood to sewers from marginalized households.

Lack of economic activity because of lockdowns found small farmers faced with a large amount of unsold produce, while the same lockdowns also saw growing numbers of hungry families. NVC provided mealbags which contained vegetables accessed from small farmers, dried fish from marginal fishermen (many of them Peter Project boat recipients), rice (packed by NVC volunteer employees) and Mingo Meals. The project sourced a total of  ______ kilos of produce from farmers and ____ kilos of fish from the fishermen, helping them provide food on their tables while the provide for others too. Read more

This was originally intended  to be a emergency relief package or a short term project which provided mealbags for families who were deprived of regular meals because their income earners lost access to livelihood due to lockdowns imposed during the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis. However, because the the crisis will have long term effects on the lives of the marginalized, The Feeding Force has expanded as a program under which are NVC-designed projects with short, medium and long term benefits to the lives of the poor. 

Launched in June as the PPE project winded down, The Feeding Force program includes the continued distribution of its farm to table mealbags, provision of food support for institutions (like orphanages and old peoples homes for the poor) whose operational supports are challenged because their regular donations are compromised by economic difficulties, the provision of packaged food and immune system boosters to families who would otherwise have no access to this, and provision of seeds, simple tools and container gardening to households with small homes.

This also includes the Farmers of Hope project which was designed to insure sustainable food supply especially to small farmers and communities by providing them tools, farming and food processing technology and marketing support.  

We gratefully acknowledge the overwhelming support of partners and volunteers in helping us face the challenges of crisis-filled 2020, almost 100% of which came from individuals. The crisis also saw the advent of various creative forms of fundraising for our cause. One donation came from a lady who celebrated her birthday with a virtual jazz concert from New Orleans, which brought support from her family and friends in the USA and Philippines, for The Feeding Force project. A donor from Germany baked pan de sal, the proceeds of which she remitted to help provide a substantial number of meal bags for distribution. The Facebook birthday fundraiser program helped provide support for NVC as celebrants appointment us as their charity of choice.

We launched our virtual showroom on June 1^st, making it possible for a public who had grown accustomed to online orders during the months of lockdown, to receive orders so that artisans may enjoy the benefits of continued livelihood. The online store supports the expanded Feeding Force project and is scheduled to introduce many relevant gift and purchase options in the coming months.