‘Rice Bucket Challenge’ Launched to Help Feed the Poor

Manila (PNA) — A rice producer and exporter on Friday conducted the first-ever “Rice Bucket Challenge” in the Philippines at Sterling Place in Makati City as he called on the more fortunate Filipinos to help feed the needy, especially those living below the poverty line.

Henry Lim Bon Liong, whose company produces and exports premium rice varieties such as the Doña Maria and Brown Rice, said the objective of the “Rice Bucket Challenge” is to donate rice to as many poor families as possible.

As a start, Lim distributed an initial 100 buckets of rice to 100 needy families of Barangay Magallanes.

Each bucket contains about 5 kilos of premium brown rice produced by his company.

“This is just part of the 5,000 rice buckets that I will distribute before the end of September,” Lim said.

In pioneering the “Rice Bucket Challenge,” Lim said he was inspired by the socially relevant version of the “Rice Bucket Challenge” now gaining popularity in India where people take the initiative to feed the needy by gifting them rice-filled buckets.

He noted that many people across the globe, including very popular persons, have by this time drenched themselves in pails of chilling ice water for spreading awareness on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS, even as many parallels have been cropping up.

“But in India, people took the initiative to give bowls of rice to poor families who are just passing by; now there are an estimated 25,000 persons doing the ‘rice bucket challenge’ in that country,” he said.

“If they can do it there, why could we not do it here? And why not me?” Lim said as he recounted how he came up with the idea of launching the said project.

So, on his birthday last September 4, Lim announced to his family and his employees that he shall be pioneering the “Rice Bucket Challenge” in the country by giving rice gifts to 5,000 poor families.

“And instead of ordinary rice, I decided to give brown rice since the other objective of the ‘Henry Lim Bon Liong Rice Bucket Challenge’ is to give the gift of health,” he said.

“Brown rice is very nutritious, full of anti-oxidants and has tremendous health benefits. I will give the poor the best and most nutritious rice that I can offer,” Lim said.

“I will be giving out 5,000 buckets every September, my birth month, from here on,” he said as he challenged everyone, especially the most fortunate, to give rice to the poor.

“I hope that businessmen would take up on the challenge of helping feed the poorest of the poor, even if only on their birth month every year. We have to do our part and share our blessings with the poor,” Lim said.

The mechanics of the “Rice Bucket Challenge” is simple:

Gather anywhere from a packet up to a bucket of uncooked rice — any kind will do — and give it to the nearest and most needy individual or family;

Take a picture of yourself handing over the rice to the beneficiary but one need not show his or her face in the picture; and

Post your “Rice Bucket Challenge” picture on your Facebook and/or Instagram, hash tag #RiceBucketChallengeph and tag all your friends and ask them to take up the challenge.

“It is my fervent wish that this project that I started would generate a ripple effect and create an ocean of good gesture,” Lim said.

“If a lot of people will catch on, many of our poor will benefit from their generosity,” he said. (PNA) LGI/CMR