Families in Bacolod, the Philippines, came together recently to celebrate the launch of a new social enterprise, the Good Samaritan Community Kitchen.
Good Samaritan Sister Grace Marcelo, who is a qualified social worker, said the Community Kitchen is an initiative of the Good Samaritan Outreach Center, which is committed to empowering women and families.
“We aim to create sustainable income-generating opportunities through our food business, fostering community growth and resilience,” Grace said.
The Good Samaritan Sisters have had a presence in Bacolod for more than 25 years, operating a Kinder School and an Outreach Center, serving people living in squatter settlements along the coastal shoreline of the densely populated city.
The Outreach Center is a ministry working with poor families, by providing skills development, values and spiritual formation, economic and social enhancement, educational assistance and nutrition.
The Center also runs an environmental awareness program, empowering the local people to take action in their own community and, until recently, provided food for the children at the local orphanage
The new Community Kitchen is one of a range of initiatives under the Outreach Center’s umbrella, aimed at helping local people to build sustainable income and skills.
“The Community Kitchen is designed to provide a livelihood for the community, starting with our women, through our Business Hub,” Grace said. “The Hub generates income by providing good, affordable food for the community.”
Grace said the Community Kitchen was run by a team of mainly women who were previously assigned to the Sisters’ orphanage cooking ministry.
“We also invited women in the community who need extra income to be part of the team that runs the day-to-day operation of the Kitchen, with the support and supervision of the Outreach Center team,” Grace said.
The idea for the Community Kitchen emerged following the closure of the orphanage ministry.
“We’d been brainstorming about starting an income-generating project to support the community to be financially independent,” Grace said. “With the closing of our ministry at the orphanage, the need became more apparent.”
The Director of the Outreach Center, Good Samaritan Sister Anne Dixon, said it was significant that the idea for the Community Kitchen had come from the women who had been part of the orphanage team.
“With our withdrawal from the orphanage, we had six women who would miss their allowance very much,” she said.
“We met with them for suggestions for a livelihood possibility and they came up with this. They are now all competent cooks and enjoy the challenge of cooking for a crowd!
“It’s amazing to remember that before the Outreach Center opened, these women could not use an oven, having never possessed one. They have achieved so much.”
Anne said the core group of six women work in the Kitchen every day and when they need more help they call other women.
“There is no shortage of volunteers,” she said. “As orders come in, other women are called upon to help.
“Since the start of this year, they have been taking online orders from our local schools and college. The word is spreading due to the very reasonable prices and delicious food. It has become very popular.”
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on 2 February was also Foundation Day for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan Community Kitchen was officially opened and blessed after Mass on 2 February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and also Foundation Day for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
“The timing was right – to celebrate our founding anniversary and to open a new venture on the same day,” Grace said.
Children were served free chocolate cupcakes while the parents generously bought the snacks baked by the women who were keen to be a part of the new social enterprise project.
The goal is for the Community Kitchen to be a sustainable business entity in the foreseeable future.
“We hope that this venture will flourish and stand on its own with the leadership of our women and that they will continue to serve the community with the same Spirit we instil in them,” Grace said.
