02 January 2013 – Eight hundred fifty-seven (857) high school and preparatory class students, 655 middle school students, and 339 primary school students, all from the St. Paul School in Lille, France gave up their regular lunch meal on November 29, 2013 to help survivors of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

Instead of having their regular meal composed of an appetizer, main course, and dessert, the entire student body just had a plate of pasta. The savings from the lunch were then donated to French NGO Secours Catholique which has a program for Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) survivors.

The unique and heartwarming idea came from newly appointed Philippine Honorary Consul in Lille, Ms. Sabine Loridant.

Present during the lunch, Ms. Loridant shared some of the students’ reactions, “We have the impression of eating for a cause. We think of all these people whom we don’t know, who no longer have anything, while here we have everything we need”, while others said, “the pasta’s good!”

Proceeds from the lunch, which reached 6,582 euros (approximately US$9,039) , were turned over to Secours Catholique on December 17, 2013. END