I've raised £10000 to feed 2,000 families going hungry during Covid-19 Lockdown
Organised by Claire and Jason Gonzalez
Story
"COMPASSION FOR OTHERS EVEN IN TIMES OF PERSONAL SUFFERING IS AN EXPRESSION OF HUMANITY IN ITS FULLNESS."
1,900+ Families Suffering from Lockdown Hunger
1,900+ families suffer from hunger in one of the poorest areas in the Philippines, called Payatas, during the lockdown to fight the Covid-19 virus. While there's fear of the life-threatening virus, what's currently affecting families more directly is the lack of money to buy food. Most people there rely on scavenging the Payatas "mountain of rubbish" in order to survive the day. This is no longer possible due to lockdown because able adults are no longer allowed to work the way they used to. With very little government help, people are now literally crying for food. This help needed is urgent.
What's Being Done So Far
Our friend, Fr. Paul, started the project by feeding more than 200 of these families by giving £5-worth of food per week for a family of six. Fr. Paul works tirelessly to reach more kids, more elderly and more people without work so they get the most basic of needs.
Targeting 2,000 Families Fed
Our intention here is to help our friend, Fr. Paul, in his massive task to feed as many people as possible.
The target is to provide food to at least 2,000 families until the lockdown is over. To be realistic though, we're just raising £10,000 to give a week's worth of food to 2,000 families. The funds we raise will go directly to the Puso ng Ama Foundation whose director is Fr. Paul. ("Puso ng Ama" means "Heart of the Father")
100% of the funds will be used to feed those in most need. (Please note that this is after bank and digital transaction fees.)
You Can Feed 1 Family or More (Seriously!)
By giving just 72p, YOU CAN FEED A FAMILY FOR A DAY! As mentioned above, this is just equivalent to £5 per week (or USD $7). You can give regularly or as a one off. When you regularly give £5, know that you're feeding a whole family every week. And if you feel you are more capable to help, feel free to feed 10, 50, 100 or more families!
We're aware that some of us have lost sources of income due to the novel Coronavirus. And some of us have even lost loved ones. So we understand if you cannot give at this time. Give only what our heart is willing to give.
From Fr. Paul...
We have started distributing 4kg rice to 2000 families. I expect in the next few days that we will probably have given rice to over 3000 families. We give numbers to people and then they wait sitting down at distance from each other. We then call numbers one at a time leaving good social distance between people. It makes things much slower than would be ideal, we want to give out as quickly as possible so we can give to more families in a shorter length of time, but we need to keep social distance and good order."
For more information about the foundation leading this initiative, check out the Puso ng Ama Website https://www.pnapayatas.com
Thank you.
Claire and Jay
Claire in the Philippines (2009) helping distribute relief goods.
