By Paula Nierras | Team GK
"If hunger is their reality, it is difficult to dream. It is hard to learn. It is even harder to talk about the future of our country. We hope that through Kusina ng Kalinga (Care Kitchens), the urgency of fighting hunger becomes second nature to everyone."
- Jose Luis Oquinena, GK Executive Director
Care Kitchens was started to mitigate hunger among children in the wake of Haiyan, but working on-ground with communities in almost all of the 80+ provinces in the Philippines, we know firsthand that hunger is an everyday reality to many: Not every Filipino child is fortunate enough to eat everyday, facing the threat of not realizing their full potential - not growing to be as tall, as healthy, nor as bright as they could be.
When we opened our first kitchen in Leyte in August 2014, we were armed with the belief that there is no shortage of people who care. And everyday since the first day of operations, this belief is affirmed. Today, we are now caring for 20,000 kids by operating 12 kitchens in 9 provinces nationwide. Encouraged by the overwhelming support of people like you, our partners from both the private and public sectors, our volunteers on-ground, and our hope storytellers online, we were able to bring Care Kitchens to many other provinces in the Philippines, even going beyond areas affected by Haiyan.
Albeit 20,000 is but a small fraction of the ~15M young Filipinos facing hunger everyday, we find hope in the increasing number of people who are joining us in this journey. Indeed the task remains massive, but everyday in each of our Care Kitchens we see another version of reality: The persistence of hunger is no match against the persistence of our caring. And this is exactly what we want to make mainstream. Day in and day out, hunger ends where caring begins.
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