ALFONSO COMMUNITY KITCHEN

Alfonso Community Kitchen

The joy of eating and dining together is a celebrated trait among Filipinos. We look forward to every pista and salu-salo, candidly joke about the food being the reason behind our presence in them—and actually mean it! But, with the essential addition of the good company of family, friends and neighbors. In a time of crises, how does the same spirit that celebrate food and togetherness manifest?

We realize that joy also comes from preparing food for others as an extension of this trait of the Filipino. The number of evacuees that took refuge in the municipality of Alfonso amounted to almost two thousand families, a total number of 7,883 individuals. Supplies were limited and providing decent healthy meals for them was a challenge, even for the municipality. Artletics Inc. together with Luntiang Republika partnered with Art Relief Mobile Kitchen and set up a mobile kitchen in Alfonso. Led by veteran Alex Baluyut, a photojournalist turned chef, the team of 288 volunteers were able to provide warm healthy meals for 15 days to 15,302 individuals.