The RU Group of Companies community pantry and community garden for residents of Barangay Pahanocoy in Bacolod City was launched on Saturday, June 12.
The project not only aims to provide immediate assistance to those in need but livelihood opportunities as a long term solution to uplift their lives , Ramon Uy, the firm’s owner, said.
On Saturday, his firm distributed vegetable packs to 975 residents, including tricycle drivers, in Pahanocoy, Uy said.
It was a joint project with the barangay council headed by Yolanda Noble that also provided rice packs and delivered the assistance to the doorsteps of the identified recipients to avoid a mass gathering amid the COVID pandemic, Uy added.
He said they purchased the vegetables they distributed from Cauayan farmers whom his firm is also assisting.
The RU Family Assistance Center (RU FAC) is offering the Pahanocoy residents a livelihood project where they will be trained in vermi composting technology.
They will be provided with 100 African Night Crawler ( ANC) Worms and they must return 200 after six months or earlier and they will then be provided initial planting materials or seedlings, Uy said.
RU FAC will buy back their Vermi cast at P6 per kilo, and the ANC for P100 per kilo or 2 kilos of organic rice, he added.
To participate in the RU FAC program, recipients must attend a basic seminar on Vermi tech and have a small organic garden enough for daily family needs before they can sell the Vermi cast or worms back, Uy said.
After 10 transactions, they will be eligible for membership in RU FAC if they want to, he said.
Privileges of being a member is one will be eligible to participate in RU FAC scholarships, skills trainings, seminars, job opportunities or referral , business opportunities, hog and chicken raising, and other income generating programs , he said.
He will also hold a contest on the best garden in December.
Uy also plans to come up with a list of the skills of the participants to help them find work, and has purchased musical instruments to develop the talents of the youth.*