A 12-year-old student from Taytay, Rizal, penned the winning entry to the “Write to Fight Hunger” worldwide essay writing contest of the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC).
Mikaia Raine (Mika) Araneta Sanchez, an incoming Grade 7 student at Assumption Antipolo, who won the top prize loves to read, write, and sometimes paint.
NVC Foundation that turned 11 years old Friday, August 20, will feed five children Mingo Meals for six months in Sanchez’s name, its president Millie Kilayko said.
Mingo Meals produced by NVC are nutritious instant complementary food made of rice, mongo (mung beans), and malunggay (moringa) that it provides to undernourished children.
NVC has served 18,794,755 Mingo meals in 53 provinces to undernourished children in poor communities, remote villages and at evacuation sites.
The first runner up was Lorenzo Franco, a 15-year-old who has been finding ways to help fight hunger in his community ever since he was a young child. NVC will be feeding one child for six months in his name.
NVC will also be feeding one child for three months in each of the names of the three other finalist: Anthea Maria Rey, Erin Zamora and Alexandra Uy.
The essay writing contest was open to writers aged 9 to 18 years old from all over the world.
“NVC Foundation turns 11 years old today and we celebrate growing older by embracing younger blood”, Kilayko said.
Aside from the young ones who participated in the contest, the masters behind the scene were young as well, she said.
The two NVC young volunteers who managed the competition were Poorna Chakraborty, a 16-year-old high school student at the International School of Manila, and Martina Jacinto, a 18-year-old senior high school student at Saint Pedro Poveda College. They worked under the guidance of Angela Mapa from the Communications Team of NVC.*