300 Children fed in
Bamban, Tarlac

www.pinoysignal.com launched its first monthly lugaw-feeding project on April 16, 2010 in Bamban, Tarlac. Miss Jane Ebetner, a resident of Bamban, Tarlac, was glad that the premier project was launched in her town. Ebetner said that she was at first looking over fifty children on the first thirty minutes of the feeding project but it reached up to 250 more children lining up together and totaled 300 children fed with Lugaw in just two hours.

"The Feeding Project was overwhelming and I never felt this exciting and joyful feeling in my life," explained Jane Ebetner, a volunteer who initiated the first Lugaw Para sa Bata Feeding Project of PinoySignal in Bamban, Tarlac. Ebetner announced the feeding project in one barangay in Bamban, Tarlac few days before the actual feeding project informing the parents to bring their children at the feeding site and bring along with them their own tasa (cup), which will be filled and refilled with Lugaw.

The parents were also informed that their children must be at least four years old. To her surprise, most of the parents did not bring their own tasa, instead, they brought with them their big bowls and brought along children as young as two years old. The parents insisted that their two-year old children can already afford to digest Lugaw and that they were already fed with this kind of food when their budget is not enough to buy some milk.

"It broke my heart," Ebetner explained. "I never realized that there are many children to feed. What broke my heart more is when one parent approached me and said...'please feed this small boy rather than my children. This boy has no family at all. We always give him food because he is always walking around the street.' I thought that this small child is only four years old but I was shocked when they told me that he is already nine," Ebetner said. Because of this feeding project, Ebetner wanted to spend her birthday by feeding Lugaw to these children, which she considers a birthday gift to herself and a way of thanking God that she is blessed with good health.

The feeding project served Lugaw to 300 children in Bamban, Tarlac in April 16, 2010 and leaving the volunteers a heart to do something more for these children. The Team Kabsat of Bamban, Tarlac will reach the Aetas (Filipino natives) in the mountains of Bamban on July 2010. www.pinoysignal.com and Team Kabsat are hoping more donations, sponsorships, and help to these children. (by: Shanaz Well, April 20, 2010)