Population: 109,581,078 in 2022
GDP per capita (US$): $3,299 in 2020
Source: Global Nutrition Report, 2022
The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands. The Philippines’ position as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the country prone to earthquakes and typhoons. Poverty level in the Philippines rose to 23.7% in the first half of 2021. Natural hazards and man-made conflicts contribute to food insecurity rates in the country.
In November 2013, the Bountiful Children’s Foundation visited the central Philippines to screen children for malnutrition in five areas on Bohol and Cebu islands. Bohol Island had just experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, and many homes were still destroyed or damaged with no hope of power being restored for many more months. The northern part of Cebu Island was also heavily impacted by Typhoon Haiyan and clean-up was still ongoing. In some areas, up to 80% of the homes were either lost or damaged.
Since then we have expanded to 42 communities throughout the country. The areas were incredibly supportive and were very excited to start nutrition programs for their children. From the screenings on Bohol Island, in the Bogo area, 63 of the 120 children screened were found to be malnourished. In the Calape area on Cebu Island, 108 of the 197 were malnourished. In the Tagbilaron area, 41 of the 80 children screened qualified for the program. Similar rates were found in Mandaue and Lilo-an where 14 of 32, and 48 of 108 children were malnourished, respectively.
The many communities available for adoption are listed below. You can adopt a community by making a generous donation of $6,000 or $500 a month, which provides supplements to an entire community for a full year.
Cristie was born to a family of farmers in Pasig city. She graduated with a Biology degree from the University of the Philippines and a medical degree from University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center in 1985. She started volunteering for Bountiful Children’s Foundation in 2014, but her involvement in health and community development started in her college years. She married Ernesto A. Deyro Jr. in 1986 at the Manila Temple. They were called to serve as mission President and companion in Philippines Urdaneta Mission from 2015- 2018. She is presently the regional coordinator of BCF for the Philippines, Cambodia, and Mongolia. Christie is a Bountiful board member.
Country coordinators serve with Bountiful as volunteers. They organize, train, and counsel local community coordinators as they conduct screenings, train families, distribute locally-purchased nutritional supplements, and follow up on infant development.
Available for Adoption
Already Adopted
Calape
Sagay
All donations go toward identifying mothers and children in need, providing food supplements, health lessons, and other services. All donations are welcomed. Recurring monthly donations support community stability.
Whether it is on a park bench , on the roadside, in a bamboo hut, under the shade of a mango tree, or on the cement floor, Bountiful coordinators find a way and a place to get the children’s height and weight to check their progress.
Cristie Deyro, M.D., Bountiful's regional coordinator for Asia recently shared this encouragement with local coordinators in the Philippines. “I love what President Russell M. Nelson said at the April General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
We at Bountiful want to spotlight twelve of the wonderful fathers that have children in the Bountiful program. The coordinators in their areas have shared their pictures and how they are doing all they can to help support their families.Order a personalized...
Bountiful Children's Foundation has been fighting child malnutrition in the Philippines for 10 years now and is helping in 45 communities. Cristie Deyro, M.D., Bountiful's regional coordinator in Asia, shares the changes she sees in the children in the program in this...
Our mission is to provide nutritional supplementation to malnourished children and pregnant/nursing mothers as well as to teach health and cognitive development skills to families in the areas we serve.
