Pfizer Foundation marks 20th year with food donation to Marawi evacuees
Pfizer Philippines Foundation Inc. (PPFI) marked its 20th anniversary last October by donating packed meals that fed 35,000 displaced Marawi families under a food assistance project with Rise Against Hunger Philippines (RAHP).
More than 500 employees of Pfizer in its Manila office heeded the call of PPFI to volunteer in the packing of the meal donations last Oct. 20.
“We want to contribute to the rehabilitation of Marawi and to help its displaced residents, so we thought of doing this meal-packing activity with them as our beneficiaries,” said Brent Denning, PPFI chairman and Pfizer Philippines country manager. “There are a lot of people out there who care about the Marawi evacuees. This is one way of expressing that we at Pfizer Philippines also care for them.”
The Pfizer volunteers packed 10,000 meals in the first project of the foundation with RAHP, the local chapter of Rise Against Hunger (RAH), an international non-government organization that provides food and disaster response.
The Pfizer employees worked in four shifts for one day to pack soy rice porcontained ridge, which was delivered to the evacuation site in the Lanao del Sur town of Saguiaran, near Marawi City. Each of the 10,000 meal packs fed 12 people. The meal packs came in five flavors for the Filipino palate: arroz caldo, champorado, beef congee, fish congee and ginataan. Each pack rice, soya, and dehydrated vegetables and fruits fortified with minerals and micronutrients, according to Rhoda Navarro, donor relations manager of RAHP.
The meal-packing activity was the first unified volunteer work organized by the foundation to celebrate its 20th year, said Geoffrey Garcia, PPFI program manager. Garcia added that Pfizer Philippines decided to donate food to the Marawi evacuees first because it is one of the most important needs of the displaced families.
“Marawi is now in the recovery phase,” said Garcia. “We have to address first the basic needs of the evacuees so they can work to rehabilitate the city. So we are giving them their initial needs, one of which is food.”
The participation of Pfizer workers in the meal packing showed the strong volunteerism spirit of its employees.
“I feel lighthearted being a part of this volunteer activity,” said Frandy Almario, who works at the surveillance and safety department of Pfizer Philippines. “Although we were not in Marawi to personally help the evacuees, we still managed to extend assistance.”
Aside from celebrating the 20th anniversary of PFFI, the donation and mealpacking activity marked the first-ever partnership of RAHP and PFFI. Navarro said the partnership is a continuation of the just-concluded joint campaign of RAH and Pfizer global to donate one million meal packs to beneficiaries around the world.
“Rise Against Hunger is driven by the vision of a world without hunger,” said Navarro. “Our mission is to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable and creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources. We work to meet immediate nutritional needs today, and empower the ability to build strong, resilient communities tomorrow.”
Denning added, “We are very pleased with the outcome of this volunteer activity and we look forward to working with RAH again in the future. We thank all the Pfizer employees for taking the time to be a part of the celebration of PPFI’s 20th anniversary for the benefit of Filipinos affected in Marawi.”