Main - The Mealenium Project

THE PROBLEM:

Payatas is home to the Philippines’ largest garbage dumpsite, currently 6.1 hectares in size. It is also home to approximately 120,000 young children, many of whom are malnourished. The MEALenium Project wants to help with this problem.

THE CAUSE:

The MEALenium Project has been feeding 30 children on a daily basis (Mondays to Fridays) in St. Benedict, Payatas since August 2015. In 2016, The MEALenium Project added a daily feeding program for 600 wasted/severely wasted* children in Lupang Pangako Elementary, Payatas through a partnership with Department of Education – Quezon City Schools Division, Office of the Vice Mayor of Quezon City and Jollibee Group Foundation. Recently, The MEALenium Project has reached a milestone of serving 1,000 meals a day to malnourished* children in Payatas.

Our focus

On Payatas

Children in Payatas live near the largest garbage dumpsite in the Philippines. Most of them are from the most impoverished families, with parents who have no means of livelihood except to scavenge the nearby garbage site. The families often do not have enough money to feed their children properly.

From birth to age 5, the development of the child’s brain is at its peak. Getting the right amount of nutrients and calories to fuel this developmental process is crucial. Research has shown that malnutrition in infancy and early childhood can significantly hamper the development of children. It can lead to stunted physical growth and smaller brain sizes, resulting in intellectual deficits, learning weaknesses, and even poor socialization with peers- difficulties that can persist through adulthood.

The People

It was founded by two teenagers in year 2015. Philip Sebastian Belmonte and Joshua Emmanuel Tan, both high school students, felt the need to create a program that could continue providing meals for undernourished kids in the community year-round.

While Belmonte and Tan are now in college, the work they have started continues in Payatas. The Mealenium Project is currently managed by Erika C. Chua, Scholarship Program Chairperson; Francis C. Gonzales, Feeding Program Chairperson; and Isaac Theodore Siy, Tutorials Progam Chairperson.

The MEALenium Project works closely with the Payatas Orion Foundation and Fr. Julio Cuesta, a St. Benedict Parish priest and a committed advocate for the Payatas children. Together, they ensure that the neediest children in the community receive the nourishment and support that all children deserve.

Learn More About The People