Through #ChefsForPhilippines, WCK continues to cook for thousands of people recovering from December typhoon
Since late December, WCK has been supporting seven local groups in the Philippines to cook and distribute hot meals to communities impacted by Typhoon Rai. To date, we have provided over 569,000 meals to 160 recipient locations.
Although some people have been able to return home, our partners are continuing to support families that are still without power and clean drinking water. Additionally, we have been expanding our efforts to reach hard-to-access communities that have struggled to receive aid.
Throughout the island of Siargao, several of our partners are helping us provide freshly prepared meals like Sinigang—a sour soup made up of tamarind, meat, vegetables, and flavored with fish sauce—and Filipino menudo—a dish consisting of pork, liver, carrot, and potatoes stewed together in a tomato base.
These meals were distributed in Consuelo, Purok, Caridad, and the Pilar evacuation center. Most areas on the island are still without power, and due to the high cost of fuel and food our partners are serving long lines of people.
Based out of Siargao, our partner Lokal Lab has set up multiple community kitchens across the region, helping us provide meals in locations that have been cut-off by the typhoon.
Supporting local teams, hundreds of daily meals are cooked in places like Tawin-tawin, Barangay Datu, and La Januza Island.
On the menu on La Januza Island is pork adobo, chopsuey, pancit, fried chicken, and veggie rice. In addition to providing hot food, our team is also supplying the community with water.
Shakey’s, a WCK partner restaurant, has provided meals in Siargao and eight other locations throughout the country. Families in Sogod, Leyte, and Cebu have thankfully been able to return home and evacuation centers closed, so we’ve concluded our service to these locations. For people who remain displaced, we’re still cooking.
In Palawan, WCK is supporting community kitchens on the main island and surrounding communities including El Nido, Roxas, and Araceli.
Araceli is a municipality on the northern half of Dumaran Island; its geographic location has made it challenging for groups to get on the ground to assist in relief efforts. Rising to the occasion, our local partner loaded up a boat with food and kitchen supplies—enough to cook 7,000 meals—and sailed from the main island to Araceli. This community kitchen is now serving daily meals to impacted families.
On Dinagat Island, Art Relief Mobile Kitchen served up thousands of plates of stir fried veggies with tofu to families in Barangay Sto Niño, Barangay Osmeña, and Libjo.
For people in Barangay Laguna and Cagdianao, we distributed rice, mongos, fish sarsiado, and squash burger patties with honey sauce.
Art Relief Mobile Kitchen is a local organization made up of volunteers who set up community kitchens to cook for communities in need and with WCK they have provided hot meals at 14 locations across the Philippines.
It will soon be two months since Typhoon Rai devastated the Philippines. The pandemic has complicated the response, and recovery efforts are being primarily led by local communities—as a result cleanup and rebuilding is taking much longer than it normally might. WCK is honored to be able to support local groups on the ground helping their neighbors and we will continue to assist as long as we are needed.
For the most up to date information on our efforts, follow WCK on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
