Foundation Grants
Community Vital Signs
About Us
Revolutionary Young Social Entrepreneur Revolutionizes Chocolate Making in Lanao Del Sur
Foundation: Citi Foundation
When Sittie Aisah Balt and her father harvested their first cocoa beans in their backyard in Lanao del Sur in the Philippines, they didn't know it at the time, but the beans would prove to be an important source of income for the family.
Now, thanks to a grant from the Citi Foundation and a United Nations Development Program program, the 21-year-old has taken that knowledge and turned it into a business: Kakaw Meranaw, which means "sweet and spicy" in the Meranaw language, reports the Marana Times.
The company's products include a sweet and spicy combination of the Meranaw condiment palapao and turmeric, as well as a dark chocolate with hints of vanilla and white chocolate.
The idea for Kakaw Meranaw came to Sittie after she and her father visited a factory in nearby Cotabato and learned how to process cocoa beans, reports the BBC.
She then went on to learn more about the high-value crop, which is used to make everything from chocolate to flour, and ultimately decided to turn her hometown into a chocolate-making operation.
With a grant from the Ranaw Project Grant Program in Lanao del Sur, Sittie shifted her focus to creating a raw material for hot chocolate
Read the Entire Article
Selected Foundation News
A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
"A little bit ago, I went through an abusive relationship with my mother, and that didn't turn out so well," Gabi Karl tells the Denver Post. "But it was around that time that the theater at...more
When Richard and Mary Jane Weeks of Fallbrook, Calif., died last November at the age of 90, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, they left behind legacies so large that it's hard to believe they...more
Foundation: Oshkosh Area Community Foundation
A nurse in Fond du Lac, Wis., is this year's recipient of the DAISY Award, given to those who go "above and beyond" to provide excellent patient care. Haley Birschbach, a nurse in medical...more
When Ferdinand and Mafalda DelGrosso were starting out in the food industry in Pennsylvania in the 1940s, they didn't have much. But over the next 77 years, the DelGrossos have donated millions...more
It's time for the US to get serious about regulating artificial intelligence, according to a new report from a bipartisan group of senators. The report from the Bipartisan Senate AI Working...more
If your child is struggling with self-esteem, depression, or anxiety, there's a summer camp for you. The Lukin Center for Psychotherapy in New Jersey is offering a week-long " Therapeutic...more
For the first time, a team from the United Arab Emirates took home the top prize at an international robotics competition. The UAE's Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Giftedness and...more
Rayees Rahman may not be a household name, but he's the winner of a prestigious life-sciences investment competition in the United Arab Emirates. The 21-year-old won the JP Morgan Asset...more
Foundation: GE Foundation
"You showed up in the classroom. You showed up in the laboratory. You showed up on Zoom. And you showed up here today," University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes told...more
The 14th annual Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival is scheduled to take place in October, and in addition to food and wine, festival-goers will get a chance to support local farmers, fishermen, and...more
New News from...
Highmark Foundation
Greater Manhattan Community Foundation
Topeka Community Foundation
Community Foundation of Northern Illinois
Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties
Knox County Community Foundation
Black Hills Area Community Foundation
Colorado Trust
Point Foundation
Parker Foundation
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Vertical Farming: The Way to Feed a Global Population
Vertical farms are designed in a way to avoid the pressing issues about growing food crops in drought-and-disease-prone fields miles away from the population centers in which they will be consumed.