NVC Foundation at the 38th Negros Trade Fair

Negros Trade Fair 2024

NVC Foundation joined the 38th Negros Trade Fair at Glorietta, Makati from September 17 to 22. This year’s theme was ‘Halad’ which means ‘offering’ or ‘dedication’. The theme was very appropriate as our team of dedicated Artisans of Hope worked tirelessly to bring a wonderful collection to offer to the visitors of the Negros Trade Fair.

The joyous event had a bit of a poignant side as this was the first year that Daniel “Bitay” Lacson, Jr., the Father of the Negros Trade Fair, was no longer around. He had passed away a couple of weeks before the opening of the trade fair. The organizers of the trade fair held a tribute to him on the opening night (photo below).

A Successful Trade Fair

As in previous Negros Trade Fairs, we brought over beautiful mosaic tile and upcycled Nespresso coffee capsule crafts. These crafts helped Our Artisans of Hope make a name for themselves. In addition to those, we introduced Christmas ornaments made out of palm leaves. This is a material that the Artisans had never worked with before. The art of weaving palm leaves into beautiful items is slowly dying out and we wanted younger generations to learn this craft. We asked the mother of one of our Artisans to teach her son this craft. Fortunately, she agreed to teach him and the rest of our Artisans how to craft beautiful shapes out of palm leaves.

Another new item that we sold for the first time at our Negros Trade Fair booth was The Secret Ingredient, our recently launched cookbook. Chef Mercedes Camacho Peterson developed and kitchen tested the 55 recipes the book. Stephanie Hilado Lindaya illustrated the full-color cookbook. NVC Vice-President Therese Ng handled the book’s layout and NVC Communications Lead Angela Mapa edited the cookbook.

We did very well at the trade fair this year. Proceeds from all the items in our booth went to our Mingo Meals Nutrition Program and we raised enough for 22,910 Mingo Meals. Of course, every piece made by the Artisans of Hope helped put food on their own tables.

We would like to thank everyone who made this happen. Thank you to our Artisans of Hope who made such beautiful crafts. Thank you to our dedicated staff assigned to the booth and the volunteers who assisted them. And thank you so much to everyone who shopped at our booth and supported our staff. Madamo gid nga salamat!