The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) launched Monday its flagship anti-hunger program called ‘Walang Gutom’ (No Hunger) Kitchen that would provide free hot meals to impoverished Filipinos through a state-funded food bank.
“This groundbreaking initiative aims to combat involuntary hunger while providing holistic biopsychosocial services to address the needs of homeless families, children, and individuals in street situations,” the DSWD said in a Facebook post with a livestream video of the program’s introduction.
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said ‘Walang Gutom’ Kitchen merges the three programs launched by the department last year—‘the Walang Gutom’ food stamps, ‘Oplan Pag-Abot,’ and ‘Tara Basa’ tutoring programs—geared towards improving the living conditions of the poor.
“The ‘Walang Gutom’ Kitchen is a food bank that will provide nutritious meals suited to accommodate the health and medical needs, along with access to hygiene facilities and laundry services, of the clients we have reached out to from the streets,” Gatchalian said in his remarks.
“This initiative will serve as a community services hub, which will provide development programs like parenting education sessions, substance abuse prevention, and character-building activities that will help the clients of our program become productive members of our society,” he added.
‘Walang Gutom’ Kitchen was launched at the Nasdake Building, FB Harrison, Pasay City with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in attendance. The initiative is part of the poverty alleviation measures of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. under his ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ agenda.
