On Saturday, Gawad Kalinga will hold a simultaneous nationwide feeding program aimed at serving hot meals to 10,000 hungry children.
Gawad Kalinga launched Kusina ng Kalinga (KnK) in 2014 as a strategic response to the problem of hunger and malnutrition among Filipino children.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, KnK said in a statement it reinvented its operations by going to where the kids are and started establishing kitchens in the communities that provide at least one nutritious meal a day for kids aged 1 – 12 years old for at least 120 days.
“From July to date, we have reached 6,000 kids in 96 communities through 20 community kitchens and food hubs,” Gawad Kalinga said in its statement.
The most recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) report said that self-rated hunger had reached an all-time high of 30.7 percent which roughly translated to 45 million Filipinos experiencing involuntary hunger—14 million of whom of are children.
To raise awareness and generate broader engagement, Gawad Kalinga said it was organizing
10.10.10 — a nationwide simultaneous feeding of 10,000 kids on October 10 where almost 500 communities and barangays would feed the hungry children in their localities through their bayanihan efforts.
This half-day event on October 10 will be broadcast on Gawad Kalinga Facebook Live and it starts at 7.30am as kitchens open nationwide until they serve meals to the children at noon.
In between the live coverage, there will be interviews and presentations from subject
matter experts on hunger to help educate the public on the depth of the problem and inspire ways to address it, Gawad Kalinga said.
Gawad Kalinga hopes to start a movement of caring and sharing where everyone who can afford to spare at least P20, will decide to use it to give one meal to one hungry child, it said in its statement.
