ATENEO CENTER for Educational Development (ACED) continued its advocacy of uplifting the status of education in the Philippines as it launched the Blueplate for Better Learning feeding program for school year 2014-2015.
ACED is an institution in the Ateneo primarily concerned with the enhancement of the country’s educational situation.
Blueplate is a daily in-school feeding program with the goal of improving the nutrition of public school students. For this year, beneficiaries will be students coming from Valenzuela City, Cainta, Rizal, Quezon City and Leyte.
“The feeding programs will commence on different dates in consideration of our available manpower at ACED,” said ACED Executive Director Carmela Oracion.
This year’s first day of feeding was scheduled last July 23 in Valenzuela City.
By March 2015, all four areas are expected to complete 130 days in the program.
ACED’s first feeding program started in July 2011 with support from the four Ateneo Professional Schools, namely, Ateneo Graduate School of Business, Ateneo Law School, Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, and Ateneo School of Government.
According to Oracion, their evaluation reports show that the students’ nutritional status significantly improved after a few months in the program.
“We have also seen a number of participants who are part of the honor roll at the end of the school year. We are not saying that that such achievements are because of the feeding program; however, these students could have dropped out of school without the program,” she said.
ACED had Fairview Elementary School, Doña Juana Elementary School, San Diego Elementary School and Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School as its first four beneficiaries.
Two areas will be added to the list of beneficiaries this year, Holy Spirit Elementary School in Quezon City and another feeding area for both Ormoc City and Kananga, Leyte.
The additional areas will place 2,500 more public school students to the list of the program’s beneficiaries. The population of the beneficiaries has 20,000 this year.
Program participation
A section of sophomore students under the school’s National Service Training Program was assigned to participate in the feeding program.
Furthermore, a group of volunteers consisting mostly of parents of former and present beneficiaries of the feeding program help operate in the central kitchen of the program located in Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School.
Oracion also mentioned that organized groups such as the Win Mothers Club and the Rex Ladies faithfully serve as volunteers in Valenzuela City.
ACED is accepting monetary donations to fund the needs of the program. According to her, P11.50 is enough to feed a child for a day and P1,500 can fund a child’s feeding for a year.
“We hope and pray that many more will see the value of the feeding program, support it and through it facilitate a better future for the beneficiaries of the program,” said Oracion.
