Their distribution of groceries and hygiene kits has been cited by the recipients as a different experience.*
The Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) Foundation has provided meals and food supplies to 4,919 families in 25 evacuation centers in Negros Occidental and Oriental since Kanlaon Volcano erupted on Dec. 9, it reported on Friday, Dec. 20.
The Bacolod based organization, which had deployed an emergency relief team to deliver food provisions to three evacuation centers within 5 hours after Kanlaon Volcano’s December 9 explosion, has provided 45,322 Mingo Meals either mixed on site or given to families to keep for the coming days as of Friday, the report said.
Mingo is NVC’s instant complementary food used for its nutrition programs that is made of rice, monggo, malunggay and flavored with naturally grown cocoa, ube or squash.
Because of its convenience, it has been used in disaster relief sites across the country including Marawi, Taal and Tacloban, NVC president Millie Kilayko said.
NVC has also given 6,905 tins of assorted canned foods, 1,451 packs of bread, 11,505 face masks and 1,301 hygiene kits to the Kanlaon evacuees, she said.
NVC has also organized parties for children in some evacuation centers, which included games and art exercises.
Their distribution of groceries and hygiene kits has been cited by the recipients as a different experience.
“To save at least a day of repacking, we bring the food provision in their wholesale cartons directly, and display these on the tables for the recipients to pick their choices. We provide them a bag which they use to stuff the goods they prefer. We only tell them the maximum number they could get from the stock, but they do the picking,” Kilayko said.
“Halos tanan nga relief diri ka galong, nami niya kay ka tawhay (almost all relief goods distribution here get to be rowdy, this one’s nice because it’s calm)”, said Maria Casipong, an evacuee from Barangay Biak na Bato who was evacuated to La Castellana North Elementary School.
This was echoed by fellow evacuee Nora Sohor who said “kanami kay kami mismo ga kuha sang amon gusto (it’s nice because we get to choose what we want)”.
Kilayko said NVC experimented using this system during their relief operations after Typhoon Odette in 2021 and pursued the practice thereafter.
“We also would like to give recipients their dignity by being allowed to make personal choices and decisions on the kind of goods they bring back to their assigned rooms,” she said.
“While some people fear that this system can be chaotic, on the contrary, our experience has always been the opposite”, she added.*
NVC delivering diapers to an evacuation center in Kanlaon City*