Julie's Bakeshop and World Food Program Joined Hands to Alleviate Philippine Hunger

It was such a blessing to know that there are people who make efforts of reaching out to the less fortunate, especially those who hunger.    It is just right to give commence to the people or organization due it.   I bet one in every three Philippine residents know Julie's Bakeshop.   Who wouldn't have, in Manila alone you could probably find one in every district,    Behind all the heavy-laden, breads and pastries, is a passion, a Christ-like mission to feed hungry children, help schools with certain needs and give out income-generating opportunities.   I didn't know that I have been part of that mission by simply enjoying their crinkles, local bread types and sliced bread.   Have I known, I would have our morning "pan de sal" bought here every day instead of buying from Pan de Manila.


To be honest, I was shame-faced by the facts World Food Program (WFP) showed us at an event at the CDE Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Galleria.   This food blog have widened the tents and all the more facing  relevant food purveyors and opportunities.   This brought me to realize that as I was enjoying the bask variety of cuisines from the finest to the crummy, local and world-renowned, yet there are people and children who goes to sleep without having any meal for a day.    In  our country alone, poverty is still considered as a major crisis, and certain food security standards are yet to stabilized.

Here is the joint call for action by Julie's Bakeshop and World Food Program, you will capture the essence of the said venture by watching the video below.

PRESS RELEASE:
MANILA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Philippine’s largest bakery chain, Julie’s Bakeshop, have entered into an innovative partnership to fight hunger in the Philippines.

Julie’s Bakeshop is launching a new product called Julie’s Bayan Sliced Bread, and will donate two pesos to WFP for every loaf of Julie’s Bayan Sliced Bread sold.

While nationwide in scope, proceeds from this initiative will exclusively benefit school children in conflict-affected areas of Central Mindanao through WFP’s Emergency School Feeding (ESF) programme, which provides on-site nutritious meals in targeted elementary schools in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao. 

 WFP implements its school feeding programmes in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Education as well as the nongovernment organization Community Family Services International.

The ESF programme helps to bring children back to school after a protracted period of displacement in 2008/2009. With the participation of Parent-Teacher Associations, it promotes a sense of normalcy in the lives of the families of the school children and enhances their participation in class.

“Giving back to society is part of our corporate ethic at Julie’s Bakeshop, and this is shown by our latest partnership with the World Food Programme,” said Joseph R. Gandionco, president and CEO of Julie’s Franchise Corporation. “More than just bringing bread to the Filipino people, we want to enhance Filipino lives. We consider it a true measure of success by placing a healthy relationship with our customers alongside business excellence.” 

Julie’s Bayan Bread is packaged with a WFP logo, raising awareness of WFP’s central role in the fight against hunger and providing customers with an easy way to get involved.

“WFP is extremely grateful for this initiative from Julie’s Bakeshop which will significantly boost our efforts to provide nutritious school meals to vulnerable children in Central Mindanao,” said WFP Philippines Country Director Stephen Anderson. “This program helps keep children in school and gives them a fighting chance for education, which is key to overcoming poverty and hunger.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there are around 12 million undernourished people nationwide. Julie’s Bakeshop supports efforts to reduce their number in Mindanao, where WFP is currently assisting around 80,000 school children. “We hope this partnership can pave the way for further opportunities for the private sector and WFP Philippines to fight hunger in the country,” said Gandionco.

Yes, as many as the restaurants that abound the cities, are the communities in conflict-stricken areas that lack food and enough nourishment for our countries future citizen, and more of this hungry children will be dropping out of school, and will grow up without proper employment and thus putting more weight on the countries unemployment figure,  or worst increasing child mortality in provinces such as Maguidanao, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato and Sultan  Kudarat.   This are only in Central Mindanao, how about those provinces which have been struck with typhoons and the usual children in Metro Manila streets begging for food? 

KC Concepcion, the WFP Philippines' National Ambassador Against Hunger, graced the event.   With her wit, charm and heart-felt dedication to the cause, she had  sparked hope to this needy school-children, as she encouraged everyone to step into the wave of helping out and step up into spreading awareness for their campaign.
I was so moved that I have to blog about this even if it's 2 am already.   This wouldn't hinder me though by stopping with my foodie adventure.   There are a lot of ways in which we could exercise the gift of giving.   As my five-year old would  say with enough conviction and no stutter, "mommy, the key to blessing is in giving."   Some restaurants have their own programs in feeding the poor and stuff, below are contact details on how you can get connections to WFP and donate.   Or just always remember to drop by at Julie's in any branch or franchise and you not only fill your stomachs, but your heart as well while filling other stomachs in the process.
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About Julie’s Bakeshop

Julie’s Bakeshop is the country’s larget bakeshop chain. Founded by Julia Gandionco in 1981, Julie’s Bakeshop today has more than 500 bakeshops. The opening of the first full franchise Julie’s Bakeshop on June 24, 1998, in Camiguin Island was a trend-setting event – one of the keys to Julie’s Bakeshop’s exceptional boom that solidified its nationwide market reach and leadership position in the bakeshop industry. Now regarded as among the hottest franchised businesses for entrepreneurs, Julie’s Bakeshop provides full management and marketing support to franchisees through its corporate organization, Julie’s Franchise Corporation (JFC).  Julie’s Bakeshop is committed to serve quality hot breads to Filipinos. 

Visit our website at http://juliesbakeshop.net or like us in our Facebook page, Julie’s BakeshopOfficial Fan Page.

About WFP

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.  WFP now provides RSS feeds to help journalists keep up with the latest press releases, videos and photos as they are published on WFP.org. For more details see:

http://www.wfp.org/rss.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media and @wfp_philippines

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Lhara Urquiola

Business Unit Director

PRC, Inc. (Julie’s Bakeshop PR Agency)

Tel. No. 7250237

Fax. No. 4708535

Email Address: lhara_torioprc@yahoo.com

Ms. Mei Nebreja

Communications and Partnerships Unit

UN World Food Programme – Philippines

Tel. No. +63 2 750 2561 loc. 2430

Mobile No. +63 917 5713162

Email: mei.nebreja@wfp.org