With the impact of the ongoing health crisis and storms that have hit the country, one after the other, not everyone will have the resources to celebrate this season the same way. There may even be families unable to fill the table for the beloved Noche Buena tradition.
A Social Weather Stations survey showed that the number of families experiencing involuntary hunger or hunger due to lack of food to eat, at least once in the past three months, reached a new record-high of 30.7%--an estimate of 7.6 million households.
This has brought an increased demand for food assistance and calls for both government and the private sector to take urgent and coordinated action to mitigate this problem.
Unilever Philippines, RFM Corporation, Dole Philippines, and Century Pacific Food, Inc., together with Lazada and international hunger relief organization Rise Against Hunger Philippines, have come together to bring Brand Aid: Noche Buena Para sa Lahat, a private sector response to help families in need during this season. Brand Aid also forms part of the group's support to the advocacy of Pilipinas Kontra Gutom, under the Government's Zero Hunger Task Force.
The companies have pooled their resources and reached out to media and agency partners, as well as local music artists and celebrities, for a month-long campaign to encourage and empower consumers to share in the cause and donate Noche Buena kits from the comfort of their homes.
Brand Aid is considered as the first collaboration of the biggest food companies in the Philippines and with this initiative, the companies have collectively donated 75,000 Noche Buena kits.
Among the program's generous donors are Pepsico, Inc., Standard Insurance, and Pilipinas Shell Foundation. The companies behind the project are also grateful for the donations of Yaparazzi Productions, Inc., Grand Canyon Industrial Corp. Novoagri, and Ogilvy and likewise extend their gratitude to Sunlight Food Corporation, Delmax Corporation, Florentino Roque Torres Construction & Maintenance Services, Everest Plastic, Mullenlowe Treyna, and Commodity Quest.
Employees of Unilever Philippines were able to raise over P530,000 and true to its culture of Malasakit, Unilever has matched this amount to provide more kits for underprivileged communities.
For P300 per kit, individuals and companies were able donate to Rise Against Hunger and help provide Noche Buena for its beneficiaries. Each kit contains all the ingredients they will need to create a meaningful Noche Buena meal such as spaghetti, macaroni salad, and fruit salad.
Times may be tough, but with everybody lending a helping hand, families can still have a meaningful celebration
Check out Unilever Philippines' Facebook page for updates.
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