Erika Rae Poturnak and her friends created Future Faces Manila to help families in need. Image: Instagram/@erikarae.p
Erika Rae Poturnak has disclosed that the soup kitchen she helped establish with her friends is finally standing, albeit a lot of work is still needed to be done.
Poturnak took to Instagram yesterday, Oct. 5, to share with fans the good news and give a brief backstory of how Future Faces Manila came to be.
“We began conceptualising @futurefacesmnl in our sophomore year of high school. It took years of planning and fundraising to raise the money we needed to build a sustainable multipurpose center in Bulacan,” said Poturnak, the eldest daughter of Ina Raymundo.
“Although there is still much to be done and more money to raise to keep the center running, to see the structure now after three years of hard work and by the end of our senior year is truly astonishing,” she noted.
Poturnak then thanked the friends she works with behind the organization, namely Winnie Wong (a.k.a. Penelope Pop Art), Saskia and Luc Giraud, Sam Concepcion and Sarina Malik.
Future Faces Manila describes itself on its website as “the first soup kitchen using re-purposed plastic,” of which the structure was designed by architect Nicholai Go.
The student-led nonprofit organization has also partnered up with established foundations such as Project Pearls and Green Antz to run and build the multipurpose center.
“We could not have done it without our partners [Green Antz] who supplied the ecobricks made from recycled plastic collected from various communities together with [Love Beauty and Planet PH], [Fabtech] who will supply architectural designs and kitchen appliances, [Project Pearls] who will run livelihood and feeding programs in the center, and [Nicholai Go] for designing this beautiful structure!” Poturnak said.
To complete the project, Poturnak and her team need to raise P4 million and get 9,000 bottles worth of plastic, which they aim to collect by working with various organizations.
Aside from providing food as a soup kitchen, Future Faces Manila aims to help educate families by creating workshops on “hygiene, the value of nutritious meals, waste, and living sustainable.”
Future Faces Manila also states that it wants “to improve the food and sanitation quality of those living in impoverished local communities,” “[decrease] waste production by re-purposing consumed plastic,” among others.” JB
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