Kitchen for the poor, a dream come true

Part 2

Vidal envisioned it after seeing kids scrounging for food in garbage bins.

The feeding center or Kusina Plus Panaderia ni Sta. Marta was initiated by Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

He was stricken by the sight of hungry children when he first came to Cebu as its coadjutor archbishop in 1981.

“When I was still residing at the Archbishop’s Palace, I usually found children outside the gate digging through boxes of garbage. I asked them ‘What are you doing? That’s garbage.’ They told me they were looking for something to eat,” Vidal said.

While he encouraged parishes to set up feeding programs for the poor, Vidal wanted a center with its own kitchen in Cebu City.

Donors were tapped to set up the center.

“The Cebuanos are very generous. I never had any difficulty here,” recalled Vidal, who is now retired after turning over his duties to Archbishop Jose Palma in 2011.

To set up the soup kitchen, he asked the help of Msgr. Achilles Dakay who was then assigned to the chapel of the Associated Labor Union (ALU) in Cebu City.

“I tried to realize his (Vidal) wish that there should be a center to feed the hungry among the poor. We used to organize feeding programs in different parishes like Sto. Rosario and Mabolo until he told me to have a center where we could cook the food for the poor,” Dakay said.

It started with a dilapidated room in the Caritas compound beside the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. With some donations, the room was renovated.

“We finished that in 2009. That’s when we started . We had it blessed,” said Dakay.

Two freezers, two huge rice cookers, six stock pots, and several kitchen utensils were among the donations. A bakery or “panaderia” was later added.

“It was originally called Kusina ni Sta. Marta until we added the bakery,” said Dakay.

“The idea is to really feed the hungry among the poor at noon time.”

On the wall is a poster which bears Jesus’ words: “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food.”