How 2 companies make a difference
A nine-year-old partnership makes for an enduring arrangement. Two parties must have something in common that drive them to continue to work together for that long period.
In 2005, United Laboratories Inc. teamed up with Odyssey Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of food company CDO Foodsphere, to support Gabay Nutrisyon, a supplemental feeding program for poor children.
Unilab is one of the country’s largest pharmaceutical companies while CDO Foodsphere manufactures food products, such as the Bibbo and CDO Hotdog line, Highlands Corned Beef and San Marino Corned Tuna.
Odyssey Foundation sponsors a community-based 64-day supplemental feeding program for malnourished children from low-income families initially in Valenzuela City, then later in various parts of Luzon.
Employees and volunteers from Unilab and Odyssey Foundation provide once-a-day hot meals. A menu is prepared following Food and Nutrition Research Institute standards. The children beneficiaries are weighed and measured in height to monitor progress of the feeding.
The target is to assist in feeding the children until their ideal weight is achieved. This aims to promote both the physical and mental well-being of the children, contributing to their full and total development.
Supplemental feeding is the identified logical core-competence capability of the CDO-Foodsphere as far as their product portfolio is concerned. Company founder Corazon Dayro Ong is also passionate about the business and CSR initiative as she is a nutritionist by profession. She built the company from a backyard meat processing activity into a multi-million corporation today. The company’s maxim is “We help nurture life.”
Unilab, for its part, provides vitamins to supplement the feeding initiative. In 2005, representatives from Odyssey Foundation paid a courtesy call to Unilab to solicit its support for the project.
Considering Unilab’s extensive line of children’s vitamins and the reputation for quality medicines, the foundation sought a donation for the feeding program. Unilab extended the support, which continues to this day.
The partnership initially conducted pocket medical missions for the malnourished children to assess their condition prior to the implementation of the program. This was done through Unilab Consumer Health. Later in the course of project implementation, the initiative has received both approval and recognition by the local government and the local health department of Valenzuela City.
Over the years, the Gabay Nutrition program spread from Valenzuela to various towns in Bulacan and Pampanga, and recently to Malvar Batangas, serving more than 16,000 malnourished or underweight children, ages four to nine, in Luzon.
Unilab has become a reliable partner in providing support continually and consistently for the program. A spoonful of Unilab vitamins is given to each child following every meal. This includes Tiki-tiki, Ceelin, Nutrilin or Enervon syrup.
The partnership has undertaken other activities as well. Unilab endorsed its partner to become a member of the Philippine Business for Social Progress, of which the former is an active member.
Recently, Unilab introduced its partner to implement the feeding initiatives at Gawad Kalinga communities in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City. The sites are Unilab-supported communities.
Odyssey Foundation is also Unilab’s sponsor for the Bayanihan sa Kalusugan program in Valenzuela City. BsK is a health development initiative undertaken by Unilab to support barangay health centers in urban centers and rural health units.
Currently, Unilab and Odyssey Foundation and the Valenzuela City Health Department are working together to develop and produce a manual for barangay nutrition workers and volunteers.
The partnership between Unilab and CDO Foodsphere has resulted in a number of initiatives geared toward improving the lives of their beneficiaries.
Initially designed to promote the health and well-being of children, the partnership has of late matured into supporting the health delivery services in communities. The partnership continues to achieve its objectives, providing prospects for a long-term collaboration.