MANDALUYONG CITY -- The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) joins the nation as it celebrates National Nutrition Month this July. The theme of this year’s celebration is “New normal na nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng solusyon!”

One of the programs of the PRC that address nutrition is Hot Meals on Wheels. The PRC Hot Meals on Wheels has served 153,093 beneficiaries from January 2021 up to date. The program started in 2005, through the vision of PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon to provide hot and ready-to-eat meals to the most vulnerable. Today, PRC has 35 food trucks that serve hot meals to food-poor communities and people affected by disasters across the country. Each food truck is equipped with an industrial-size rice cooker, warmers, oven, and burners. It is designed to provide meals on-site to people who lose access to their cooking facilities in the aftermath of a disaster.

The food trucks were used to serve meals to locally stranded individuals, children in food-poor communities, the elderly, the locked down families, the sick, and persons with disability. This non-disaster feeding program will continue to be implemented as needed.

“Sa oras ng sakuna, isa sa pangunahing kailangan ng mga tao ay ang pagkain. Ang Hot Meals on Wheels ay nagdadala ng pagkain sa mga naapektuhan ng kalamidad, katulad ng sunog at bagyo. May community feeding din tayo para sa mga food-poor, at ang mga pagkaing pinamimigay ay siguradong ligtas, masustansya, at masarap,” Chairman Gordon said. (Philippine Red Cross)