Chefs unite to feed the hungry

COOKING FOR A CAUSE Chef Jessie Sincioco (left), Rachel Harrison, Chef Kay Carreon working hard for the Hapag Movement. —MARGAUX SALCEDO

COOKING FOR A CAUSE Chef Jessie Sincioco (left), Rachel Harrison, Chef Kay Carreon working hard for the Hapag Movement. —Margaux Salcedo    .

Someday you’ll find it, the rainbow connection: the lovers, the dreamers and me.

That’s what I felt last Sunday when Chef Jessie Sincioco—along with Chef Kay Carreon who flew in from the United States, Rachel Harrison and the other officials and members of the Rotary Club of Makati District and officials of Globe—launched Chefs Unite, a fundraising effort of Chef Jessie in support of the Hapag Movement.

I first confused this with the Hapag-Asa Foundation, an integrated nutrition program that aims to help reduce malnutrition prevalence among Filipino children through supplemental feeding and capability-building activities for their parents, which I have been supporting for over a decade now.

Apparently, this is a fresh new concept of Globe, together with Ayala Foundation, Caritas Philippines, Tzu Chi Foundation, World Vision Philippines and the Rotary Club of Makati. Rachel Harrison, spokesperson of the Rotary for the Hapag Movement, shared, “We hope to make a difference in the lives of 100,000 families in four years.”

In the ad of Globe, they are encouraging people to donate P50 via Gcash for the movement. But talented persons with big hearts are aiming to contribute way more than that.

At the first Chefs Unite dinner, Chef Jessie and Chef Kay raised over P100,000 for the Hapag Movement. There will be more Chefs Unite dinners to come. Separately, artists like Gian Magdangal, with the support of soprano Lara Manguiat, will hold a concert for the movement.

The Rotary Club of Makati, as the funding partner, is creatively finding ways to raise funds to meet the goal of feeding 100,000 ‘hungry’ families from 19 identified communities.

Pinoy-themed

As the first Chefs Unite dinner was entitled Hapag ni Luzviminda, Chef Jessie and Chef Kay served a Filipino-themed dinner.

The first dish was a surprising sushi that was topped with a gelee of soy sauce. This was followed by a Bicolano favorite, the binakol, a chicken soup cooked in coconut water with grated or shaved coconut.

I was delighted most of all by the palate cleanser that was a guava sorbet with guava ‘caviar.’ It was a really creative way to ‘think pink.’

Of course, the finale was a Pinoy porchetta because what Filipino fiesta does not have lechon?

Feeding that many hungry people is still a dream but hopefully, many will support. There are too many mouths to feed with our 117 million population. While the government aims to achieve single-digit poverty levels within the next few years, all efforts at curbing hunger and malnutrition are, of course, welcome.

Encouraging us to feed the poor, Jesus himself said, “I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.” So let’s! And you will find that it is the greatest joy!

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