Republic Cement, in collaboration with Gawad Kalinga, has established a socially responsible program named “Kusina ng Kalinga” or KnK (Kitchen of Care) in Taysan, Batangas.
KnK aims to provide nutritious meals for the students of Taysan Central School, Pagasa Elementary School, Bilogo Elementary School, and Mapulo Elementary School, with the cooperation of the Department of Education.
In line with Gawad Kalinga’s goal of addressing undernourishment and malnutrition among public school children, Republic Cement has funded the refurbishment of a room in Taysan Central School into a kitchen in order to fulfill the partnership’s vision.
“We believe this partnership with GK concretizes our commitment to positively impact the communities we operate in, as a responsible corporate citizen. We are not only feeding schoolchildren, we are feeding our future movers and shakers, we are nourishing dreams,” said Renato Sunico, president of Republic Cement and Building Materials Inc.
Jose Emilio Oquinena, Movement Building head of Gawad Kalinga, expressed his appreciation to the company for spearheading Kusina ng Kalinga’s operation in the province.
“This is the realization of ‘bayanihan’ [communal unity], the coming together of the government and private sector. We thank Republic Cement for leading the charge in showing what a kitchen can offer in Taysan and what we can achieve when we work hand in hand,” he said.
Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and Taysan Mayor Grande Gutierrez extended their support to the partnership, and commended Republic Cement’s strong sense of corporate social responsibility toward helping the community and for the extensive role it plays, being the only cement manufacturing plant in South Luzon.
“We are very fortunate because we have partners like Republic Cement and Gawad Kalinga to address the nutritional needs of our children in Taysan,” Gutierrez said.
The LGU in Taysan will provide full-time workers to assist in food preparation and logistics, utilities, and transportation, to ensure food is delivered to the beneficiary-schools.
Sunico explained that in addition to the grant fund, vegetable crops being grown inside the cement plant will be contributed as ingredients for the food preparation in KnK.
He also expressed hope the success of KnK-Taysan will be replicated in the other areas where Republic Cement operates.