In January 2020, Euric Guerrero, a stranger to us, set up a Facebook Fundraiser with NVC as its beneficiary. He organized this fundraiser to celebrate the life of his recently deceased father, Eugenio Guerrero. Euric and his siblings (all based abroad) set the fundraiser’s goal at $2,020, to mark the year of their father’s passing. Donations from near and far quickly poured in. And to everyone’s surprise and joy, the amount raised was more than doubled the target!

“Such an outpouring of love in such a short amount of time leaves us (almost) speechless. Seeing names of family, friends from our childhood to friends and colleagues as adults, and friends of friends– truly speaks to the wonderful relationships that our father has taught us to create and maintain, over distance and time.” –Euric Guerrero

The Eugenio family agreed with NVC that it would be fitting for the funds to be used to help the people of Talisay, Camarines Norte, Eugenio’s hometown. After a delay due to the eruption of Taal Volcano, the NVC team set off for Camarines Norte. There we met 176 children in need of nutritional support, and local officials begging for Mingo Meals.

Then came the threat of COVID-19 lockdowns all over the Philippines. We swiftly shipped the allocated supply of Mingo to the site before travel was barred. We thought we would have to delay the kickoff of the Mingo Meals program as our staff could not visit the site. However, with virtual instructions from us in Bacolod, our partners in Camarines Norte took care of launching the program. They gathered the families (following safety protocols). Then they weighed and measured the children. Finally, they oriented the parents and got the program up and running! What a wonderful way to pay tribute Eugenio Guerrero!