HAPAG-ASA’s Noche Nuebe: A Christmas Feast for the Poor

Here’s a Noche Buena that imbibes the true Christmas spirit of giving and feasting. It is called Noche Nuebe and it lays out a feast for the hungry, and directs attention at the problem of hunger which the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI calls “the most cruel and concrete sign of poverty.”

Noche Nuebe is a Christmas program of the HAPAG-ASA Integrated Nutrition Program. It aims to spread the spirit of sharing and loving not just for one-day but for nine days, a novena of social action for the poor, in the manner of the traditional Simbang Gabi. As adopted by coordinators of the member dioceses (including the Archdiocese of Manila) of Pondo ng Pinoy, the program coincides with the nine-day Misa de Gallo starting on December 16.

 HAPAG-ASA is the feeding program of Pondo ng Pinoy for malnourished program. It integrates delivering proper nutrition to children with catechesis for them and their parents or guardians. HAPAG-ASA’s Christmas project this year has also taken on greater urgency because of the series of typhoon disasters that hit the country.

In his circular endorsing the Noche Nuebe to Pondo ng Pinoy member dioceses and to the priests, religious and laypeople of the Archdiocese of Manila, Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, said that the program to poor families especially those affected by the disasters may mitigate the effects of their material losses and help them cope with their emotional and spiritual distress.         

In Noche Nuebe, parishioners will be asked to adopt a family from among the poor families prescreened by the parish as those who will benefit most.  These adopted families will be provided nutritious food items that may be cooked for dinner or ready-to-eat meal that can be shared by members of the family from December 16 to Christmas Day. However, parishes may also implement this on any nine-day period in December.

The adopted families’ name will be posted on the parish bulletin board. Some parishes may have a Noche Nuebe Christmas Tree where colorful cards with the names of the families can be hung.  Once a family is selected, a profile of the family may be provided to the adopting family. The benefactor may start providing the ready-to-eat daily dinner or nutritious food items to the selected family on December 16. The parish can serve as the drop-off and pick-up point of the food items, although a personal distribution by the adopting family to adopted family is encouraged. At the end of the nine-day Gift Giving or some other day, a common dinner with the adopted and adopting families may be held to culminate the activity.For questions, contact HAPAG-ASA Secretariat at 632-1001 to 03.##