Atienza leads walk vs hunger

Express and logistics company TNT International Express together with Manila Mayor Lito Atienza will lead the Philippine edition of Walk the World at the historic Luneta Park tomorrow as the country joins the rest of the world in raising funds to fight hunger.

Walk the World, a fund raising project of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in partnership with TNT Express, this year, is targeting to raise a combined $12.30 million to feed malnourished children.

TNT Philippines country general manager Jose Luis Romero-Salas said they are very grateful for all the assistance Atienza has been providing for the staging of the event.

"On behalf of the WFP, we would like to thank Mayor Atienza and the City of Manila for the valuable support they have provided towards this worthwhile cause. This is the Philippines humble contribution towards ending hunger in the world," Romero-Salas said.

In its third year, Walk the World will simultaneously be held this June in 19 countries and 269 cities where more than 200,000 people are expected to walk a combined one million kilometers to help raise funds and educate at least 50,000 schoolchildren this year.

Here in the Philippines, Atienza will be the guest of honor in the five-kilometer walk that will start and end at the Quirino Grandstand and which will pass through Roxas Boulevard all the way to Quirino Avenue.

Worldwide, people participating in Walk the World are expected to donate a certain amount of money to fund the WFP’s school feeding program. In the Philippines, those taking part in the walk are expected to donate at least P200 each.

The WFP estimates that 6.50 million children die every year before the age of five while another 100 million children are out of school due to poverty and hunger.

For the past 40 years, the WFP has been providing food aid to an average of 90 million people, including 56 million hungry children, in more than 80 countries.

TNT Express, the WFP’s partner in Walk the World, is a global provider of express, mail, and logistics services. The Netherlands-based company established its Philippine operations in 1982.