NUTRITION, RELIEF EFFORTS TOP ODYSSEY FOUNDATION’S PRIORITIES.
Nutrition and relief efforts topped the social activities of Odyssey Foundations, Inc. (OFI), The corporate social responsibility arm of Foodsphere, Inc., in the fiscal year 2019-2020. Jerome D. Ong, President of OFI, said the foundation continues to expand the reach of the NEELS program which stands for the five pillars of Nutrition, Education, Environment, Livelihood and Service to Humanity. “Continuing passion for service has been the theme for Odyssey Foundation’s Fiscal Year 2019-2020 covering April 1, 2019 until March 20, 2020,” said Ong who is also the President of Cdo-foodsphere, Inc. “This has been the shared vision of Odyssey Foundation and its parent firm. Giving back to the marginalized sector is in support of the company’s core values and Project NEELS is one of our advocacy campaigns,” Ong said. OFI Executive director Dindo A. Danao said the foundation will continue to sustain the goals under NEELS as part of its social responsibility. ‘’In the face of the challenges this fiscal year, Odyssey Foundation continues to provide relevant and significant services to communities and families in need,” said Danao. OFI conducts community-based, school-based and church-based supplemental feeding programs for underweight kids under Gabay Nutrisyon which focuses on addressing child hunger and malnutrition. The Foundation reached more than 6,700 children in National Capital Regio (NCR), Batangas and Oriental Mindoro in FY 2019. Meanwhile, more than 4.400 beneficiaries in five communities in NCR, Pampanga and Batangas benefited from the Gabay Edukasyon program in the same year. Gabay Edukasyon provides first-aid trainings, seminars and disaster preparedness kits to public schools. OFI also established two school gardens in Valenzuela and one in Malvar, Batangas under Gabay Kalikasan, Its environmental pillar. A special gardening project was las launched in an Aeta community in Floridablanca, Pampanga to help them become more resilient after an earthquake devastated their community. Gabay Hanapbuhay , the livelihood pillar of OFI, Sustained its community-based, small-scale livelihood trainings. OFI administered 18 trainings to 432 beneficiaries in FY 2019, providing them with skills to earn for their families. Under Gabay Lingkod, its fifth pillar focusing on service to humanity, OFI provided assistance to evacuees displaced by Tall Volcano eruption in evacuation centers in Batangas. OFI Distributed 6,000 meal packs to 2,000 individuals in the early part of 2020, representing the final quarter of OFI’S FY 2019. OFI Also provided 500 boxes of canned goods to partner organizations towards the end of FY 2019 in March when the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic struck the country with fear and uncertainty. Danao Said, that in the face of these challenges, OFI Continues to respond and provide relevant and significant services to communities and families in need. “This has been and will always be OFI’S commitment to the Filipino people,” He Said.