Elizabeth Pangan, Assistant Coordinator of Caritas Foundation of the Our Lady of Fatima Parish, said their Bigasan sa Parokya started selling cheaper rice only to their Gagmay''ng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKK) leaders and volunteers but after the rice prices went up, they started selling to the parishioners.
The parish is not subsidizing the rice sold to the parishioners. In fact, they are still earning from it.
Pangan said they get the rice from the NFA at 837 pesos per 50-kilo sack and selling at P17.50 per kilo, still earns for them 38 pesos per sack. The “earning” can actually pay for at least two kilos worth of rice.
For a parish that subsidizes the price of rice for volunteers, that’s good news. Volunteers pay only P14.25 per kilo.
Unlike the other NFA retailers where rice is only sold at a maximum of two kilos per family, at Fatima Parish they allow up to five kilos per family.
Pangan said that before selling rice, they studied the demographics of the barangay (24-c) and found that most of the residents have big families so two kilos of rice would not be enough for them.
The parish also made a list of their parishioners, to ensure they are given priority. Residents from other parishes can buy only if there is spare rice.
The parish sells 30 bags of rice per week but because of the demand, they have asked the NFA to increase their supply to 50 sacks per week.
The “earning” from the rice sales is divided and distributed to the different programs of the parish such as the scholarship program, the calamity fund, volunteers fund, finance among others. (MindaNews)