Bright smiles lit up the faces of over 2,600 medium-security inmates of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, where they were treated to a hearty meal cooked especially for them over the holidays by three famous local chefs.
From top: Coach Ali Khatibi, Cach David Mendoza, and chef Ninong Ry (above) get cooking at the event organized by Lucas Lepri Philippines (LLP) to support the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service Foundation Inc. (PJPS).
The cooking event, dubbed as the “Bilibid or Not Cookout,” was an initiative of Lucas Lepri Philippines (LLP) to support the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service Foundation Inc. (PJPS) and its scholarship program for deserving children whose parents are incarcerated at the nation’s main jail facility. Scholars under the program will gain a formal education, giving them better opportunities to bring about a positive change in their lives.
Chefs JP Anglo and Chavi Romawac
By organizing the cookout, Lucas Lepri Philippines in partnership with PJPS, aimed to draw attention to the plight of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and their need for financial assistance to be able to send their kids to school. Its main goal is to establish an endowment fund that would sustainably support the scholarship program over the long term.
Well-known chefs JP Anglo, Ninong Ry, and Chavi Romawac responded to LLP’s call, and jumped at the opportunity to put their combined culinary talents to good use. All popular kitchen personalities with a large base of followers, they teamed up for their first-ever prison community project as their way of spreading the word in support of their friends at LLP and this meaningful cause.
The outdoor makeshift kitchen set up within the prison grounds was bright and breezy, a perfect match to the jovial mood of the whole team helping out that day. Cooking up a storm, the celebrity chefs served up hundreds of kilos of chicken adobo and bistek, each dish prepared in three different ways and cooked onsite. With all hands on deck, the hugely successful cookout is just the starting point of things getting better for PDLs and their children’s future.
Krissy Kairuz, general manager of LLP, happily shared that the fundraising cooking event has already brought in pledges for the scholarship fund. Expressing how good and uplifting it felt to be the hands that extend help, she added, “We not only served up platefuls of food but we served up plates of hope for a brighter tomorrow for the families of those behind bars.”
Top photo: Chefs Ninong Ry, Chavi Romawac, JP Anglo, and Lucas lepri Philippines team owner Carlos Banaag received paintings from the Bilibid inmates; middle and above, group photos: Chefs and athletes do a good thing for PDL (persons deprived of liberty).
As the premier Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training center in the country today, Lucas Lepri Philippines thanked all those who responded and gave generously to support their project of giving hope and rebuilding lives.
Learn more how to be a sponsorship partner by emailing Ms. MK Guaño at [email protected]
Metrobank
Account Name: Philippine Jesuit Prison Service Foundation Inc.
Account No. 3497-3495-13044
Contact Krissy Kairuz
[email protected], tel. no. (0920) 907-9241
