Caring comes first: End hunger, poverty one meal at a time

MANILA, Philippines - They don’t wear capes; they don’t have superpowers. But they save lives and help children to achieve their dreams – one meal at a time. Meet the volunteers at Kusina ng Kalinga, Gawad Kalinga’s anti-poverty campaign that aims to end hunger among young Filipinos by cooking delicious meals for children in public schools.

Every day, these volunteers gather in a small kitchen in Sitio Pajo, Quezon City to cook meals and prepare lunch boxes not for their own families but for the empty stomachs of marginalized students in nearby schools.

The small kitchen gets busy at dawn, volunteers donning aprons, hair nets, and gloves a they embark on their daily mission. By 8 a.m., the food packs are assembled and delivered in time for students’ recess time.

“Gawad Kalinga’s mission is to end poverty for five million families by 2024. Of course, we cannot address poverty without addressing hunger. In this country, if you solve one percent of hunger, you actually solve four percent of poverty. That is how poverty and hunger are directly linked,” said Justine Cruz, GK head in Quezon City.

According to Cruz, some poor families don’t send their children to school to save on money. “It’s quite compelling. Poor students get low grades not because they are not intelligent but because they are hungry,” he explained.

But when the program started, the students were given a motivation to attend school.

Marie Ann Laforteza, a grade school teacher and coordinator of Gawad Kalinga efforts at San Antonio Elementary School in Quezon City, echoed the observation, noting improvements in students’ attendance and class participation since the program started.

“Students have become more confident and active in participating in class activities. Some even go to class earlier than usual because they look forward to the meals,” Laforteza shared.

To help them achieve their lofty goal, Kusina ng Kalinga has partnered with a social enterprise that was founded at  the GK Enchanted Farm – First Harvest, a four-year-old food brand that raises funds to help feed hundreds of the nation’s poorest children.

Last year, the partnership raised 11,000 meals for hundreds of children from public schools. They intend to go even further with their “Caring Comes First” campaign.

For every purchase of First Harvest’s best-selling peanut spread, they will sponsor a meal of a marginalized child. This is geared towards their mission of raising 66,000 meals for 300 grade school students in 2017.

“We want to instill a long-term way Filipinos can participate in nation-building. We want them to realize that when they support a local product, it benefits local farmers and children in need,” said Catherine Sui, founder of First Harvest.

Unlike many feeding programs, Kusina ng Kalinga is a sustained initiative. With the help of the project, all grade school students who are part will be able to receive a meal regardless of their weight or nutritional status.

The meals are prepared according to the recommended dietary allowance for children and are approved by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute. The recipes are also arranged and planned monthly to make sure kids enjoy a variety of dishes.

Everyday, around 600 lunch boxes are sent to San Antonio Elementary School, Leopoldo Santos Elementary School, and Toro Hills Elementary School in Quezon City.

Rita Denzo, 44, a mother and team leader of the Kusina ng Kalinga in Sitio Pajo, said there are only two full-time workers in their kitchen but volunteers come daily to help them cook and assemble the lunchboxes for the students.

Human Nature, a company also affiliated with Gawad Kalinga, sends employees from different departments for eight hours of volunteer time to help with the daily operations at Kusina ng Kalinga.

In the long run, the project aims to attract more volunteers such as private individuals, organizations, local government units or corporate partners who can help make the Kusina ng Kalinga model work.

The lunchboxes don’t just contain meals. Inside each box is their commitment to care for the young ones until no child is left hungry.